By Mike O’Neal
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)
Copyright 2007 Chattanooga Publishing Company
Those living in the Stroke Belt — 10 Southeastern states and Indiana — are more likely to suffer strokes than other Americans, according to data compiled by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
“This region has more than a 300 percent higher incidence of stroke than anywhere in the country,” said Dr. Thomas Devlin, a neurologist and medical director of the Southeastern Stroke Center at Erlanger hospital.
Poor diet, smoking, obesity, an older population and underutilization of available medical services are all contributing factors, but lifestyle changes and state-of-the-art treatment offer better chances of survival than does relocation, according to doctors.
The Southeastern Stroke Center “is making a difference,” Dr. Devlin said during an Erlanger-sponsored Stroke Survival event on Saturday.
Two who had strokes in 2006, Rebecca Plaster and Martin Hershey, are both recovering with the help of Merci retriever therapy at Erlanger. That procedure involves having a corkscrew-like device threaded through a patient’s arteries to trap and remove blood clots or obstructions within the brain.
Mrs. Plaster, 56, an artist and the fifth person to receive Merci therapy in the region, said she still has weakness on one side and has noticed a change in her paintbrush technique.
“She was a patient who would have been dead or worse,” Dr. Devlin said.
Doctors had given Mrs. Plaster a 50-50 chance of total recovery after a clot caused her stroke in July.
“I’m really pleased to be standing here today, and that I can speak,” said Mr. Hershey, 63, whose stroke was caused by a piece of his carotid artery’s lining broke free on Sept. 11.
Treating both patients required teamwork among paramedics, emergency room staff, stroke specialists and rehabilitation therapists, according to Dr. Devlin.
“This is not rocket science; this is a simple plumbing problem,” Dr. Devlin said. “But medically, this is like having a man walk on the moon.”