Shands at the University of Florida is designated as a primary stroke center by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, a title earned by meeting rigorous requirements, such as providing advanced diagnostic capabilities, linking with stroke-trained emergency responders and making its stroke specialists available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Additionally, the American Stroke Association and the American Heart Association awarded the Shands at UF Stroke Program the Bronze Initial Performance Achievement Award for implementing national guidelines in the treatment and prevention of stroke.

Learn more about:

• About the Stroke Program
• Types of Stroke
• Warning Signs of a Stroke
• Stroke Prevention
• Stroke Education
• Care and Rehabilitation
• Clinical Trials
• Principles of the Stroke Program

About the SUF Stroke Program

The Shands at the University of Florida Stroke Program is dedicated to preventing, diagnosing and treating strokes. Care is coordinated from the first point of contact with the patient through extensive therapy at Shands Rehab Hospital in Gainesville.

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. Few conditions occur as rapidly and with as devastating consequences as stroke.

Dr. Michael Waters, Director of the Stroke Program, has brought together a multidisciplinary team of UF neurologists, neuroradiologists, neurosurgeons, vascular surgeons, critical care physicians, emergency medicine physicians, rehabilitation specialists, nurse specialists and pharmacists who have a special interest and expertise in stroke and cerebrovascular disease.

Types of Stroke

A stroke can happen when a blood vessel carrying blood to the brain is blocked by a clot (called an ischemic stroke), or when a blood vessel breaks open, causing blood to leak into the brain (called a hemorrhagic stroke).

The ischemic stroke is the most common type of stroke, often resulting from clogged arteries. Fatty deposits collect on the artery walls, forming plaque. Plaque causes abnormal blood flow through the arteries, which can cause the blood to clot, causing a stroke.

A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when small blood vessels in the brain, which have weakened due to high blood pressure, aneurysm or defects, burst, causing blood to flow into the brain. The brain is sensitive to bleeding, and damage can occur rapidly, either because of the presence of the blood itself, or because the fluid increases pressure on and swelling of the brain.

Warning Signs of a Stroke

A stroke can occur suddenly, and it is important to act quickly if you or someone you know has experienced the sudden onset of the following symptoms:

• Weakness or paralysis of an arm, leg, side of the face, or any part of the body
• Numbness, tingling, decreased sensation
• Vision changes
• Slurred speech, inability to speak or understand speech, difficulty reading or writing
• Swallowing difficulties or drooling
• Loss of memory
• Vertigo (spinning sensation)
• Loss of balance or coordination
• Personality changes
• Mood changes (depression, apathy)
• Drowsiness, lethargy, or loss of consciousness
• Uncontrollable eye movements or eyelid drooping

The symptoms of stroke depend on what part of the brain is damaged. In some cases, a person may not even be aware that he or she has had a stroke.

Don't wait. Call 9-1-1! If you see one of these symptoms, and even if it goes away, call 9-1-1 immediately. This person may be having a stroke.

The American Stroke Association recommends evaluating the five following behaviors to determine if symptoms are are stroke:

• Walk - Is the patient's balance off?
• Talk - Is the patient's face droopy or speech slurred?
• Reach - Is one side weak or numb?
• See - Is the patient's vision all or partially lost?
• Feel - Is the patient's headache severe?

Stroke Prevention

A stroke can cause brain damage, long-term disabilities and death, but prevention measures help lessen the chance of a stroke.

Tips for stroke prevention include:

• Get screened for high blood pressure at least every 2 years, especially if you have a family history of high blood pressure.
• Have your cholesterol checked. If you are high risk, your LDL "bad" cholesterol should be lower than 70 mg/dL.
• If you have high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease, make sure you follow your doctor's treatment recommendations.
• Follow a low-fat diet.
• Quit smoking.
• Exercise regularly -- 30 minutes a day if you are not overweight; 60 - 90 minutes a day if you are overweight.
• Do not drink more than 1 to 2 alcoholic drinks a day.

Aspirin therapy (81mg a day or 100mg every other day) can also help decrease the risk of a stroke. Ask your doctor if aspirin is right for you.

Carotid endarterectomy (removal of plaque from the carotid arteries) may help prevent strokes from occurring in people with large blockage in their blood vessels.

Stroke Education

The Stroke Program and ShandsCair have educated the surrounding counties on pre-hospital stroke care and implemented a stroke-alert system for all patients with stroke signs and symptoms. When a stroke alert is activated, the stroke team mobilizes to prepare for the patient in transport to the hospital.

Care and Rehabilitation

Once stroke patients are treated and stabilized, they are cared for in the newly opened Neuro ICU at Shands at UF, which focuses many disciplines of human services and leading-edge technological resources on neurosurgical and neurological critically ill patients. The creation of this unit aggregates resources and expertise, which results in improved patient outcomes and reduced mortality and morbidity.

In fact, The Leapfrog Group, a consortium of more than 130 private and public healthcare purchasers, estimates a 30 percent reduction in mortality utilizing this approach to caring for critically ill patients.

When patients are ready for long-term rehabilitation, Shands Rehab Hospital is a comprehensive, inpatient category-one facility for adult medical rehabilitation programs according to the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities.

At Shands Rehab Hospital, healthcare professionals provide intensive inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation services for people with physical and neurological problems. Comprehensive communication training and psychological therapy combined with physical and occupational therapies provide a program designed to return patients to their homes and communities.

More than 200 stroke patients have been treated as of June 2008, which is a 30 percent increase in the stroke population from last year.

Clinical Trials

The Stroke Program at the University of Florida is currently participating in several clinical trials.

Click here to learn more

Principles of the Stroke Program

The Stroke Program's state-of-the-art acute stroke management protocols, guided by the principles of the American Heart/Stroke Association, Brain Attack Coalition and the Joint Commission, focus on aggressive prevention of future stroke with a combination of medications and changes in lifestyle. By decreasing the risks for stroke, the program improves quality of life and provides peace of mind.

Information

For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call the Shands HealthCare Consultation Center at 352.265.8000.

Shands at UF Neurological and Neurosurgery services were ranked 44th in the country by U.S.News&World Report. Learn more.

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Make an Appointment

To make an appointment or find out more information about neurology services offered at Shands at the University of Florida, please call 352.265.8000 or toll-free 1.800.749.7424

You may also email our Consultation Center (consult@shands.ufl.edu) or use our secure online form.