Because brain cells die very quickly after a stroke begins, it is urgent to get treatment as soon as possible. If a stroke is left to run its course, millions of brain cells will die. Prompt treatment can stop that.

NOTE: At this time there is one FDA-approved drug for the treatment of acute blocked artery (ischemic) stroke. However, this drug, called tPA, can only be used within three hours of the start of symptoms. Most people go to the ER long after that treatment window has passed and so are not able to take tPA. Because of this, fewer than 2 percent of blockage (ischemic) stroke patients currently receive this potentially life-saving treatment.

What Is tPA Medication?

tPA stands for "tissue plasminogen activator." It is a super clot-buster introduced into the patient's bloodstream. It dissolves the clot that is blocking blood flow, therefore, it can only be used in blockage strokes. This requires that the patient undergo some type of imaging, either an MRI or CT scan, (a special type of X ray that allows doctors to see the body parts very clearly) to be sure that the type of stroke the person is having is a blockage (ischemic) stroke, rather than a broken-artery stroke. Using tPA in a broken-artery (hemorrhagic) stroke would be fatal.

The three-hour window cannot be extended and even includes the time needed for the image scan. tPA has resulted in symptoms being lessened and even reversed, but most patients do not arrive at the hospital in time for it to be used. If it is not known when symptoms began, doctors won't even consider using tPA.

There are several new drugs under consideration for the treatment of acute (sudden) stroke. Some of these drugs will lengthen the three-hour treatment window, but at this time, only tPA medication is used. Even when new drugs become available, this medical truth will remain--Time lost is brain lost! No drug will bring dead brain cells back to life.