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YOU AT YOUR BEST | nwAdg.cOm/YOUATYOURBEST JULY - ThE 5 SEnSES | SATURdAY, JUnE 24, 2017 | 21 Special to NWa Democrat-Gazette Washington Regional has received the Ameri- can Heart Association/American Stroke Associa- tion's Get With The Guidelines®-Stroke Gold Plus Achievement Award with Target: Stroke SM Honor Roll Elite Plus. The award recognizes the hospital's commitment to providing the most appropriate stroke treatment according to nationally recognized, re- search-based guidelines based on the latest scientific evidence. Hospitals must achieve 85 percent or higher adherence to all Get With The Guidelines-Stroke achievement indicators for two or more consecutive 12-month periods and achieve 75 percent or higher compliance with five of eight Get With The Guide- lines-Stroke Quality measures to receive the Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award. To qualify for the Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite Plus, hospitals must meet quality measures developed to reduce the time between the patient's arrival at the hospital and treatment with the clot-buster tissue plas- minogen activator, or tPA, the only drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat isch- emic stroke. If given intravenously in the first three hours after the start of stroke symptoms, tPA has been shown to significantly reduce the effects of stroke and lessen the chance of permanent disability. Washing- ton Regional earned the award by meeting specific quality achievement measures for the diagnosis and treatment of stroke patients at a set level for a desig- nated period. These quality measures are designed to help hospi- tal teams follow the most up-to-date, evidence-based guidelines with the goal of speeding recovery and re- ducing death and disability for stroke patients. "A stroke patient loses 1.9 million neurons each minute stroke treatment is delayed," said Rebec- ca Cowie, APRN, RN, ACNS-BC, CCRN, SCRN, Washington Regional Stroke Program Director. "This recognition further demonstrates our commitment to delivering advanced stroke treatments to patients quickly and safely. Washington Regional continues to strive for excellence in the acute treatment of stroke patients. The recognition from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke further reinforces our team's hard work." Washington Regional has also met specific scien- tific guidelines as a Primary Stroke Center, featuring a comprehensive system for rapid diagnosis and treat- ment of stroke patients admitted to the Emergency Department. "The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recognize Washington Regional for its commitment to stroke care," said Paul Heiden- reich, M.D., M.S., national chairman of the Get With The Guidelines Steering Committee and Professor of Medicine at Stanford University. "Research has shown there are benefits to patients who are treated at hospitals that have adopted the Get With The Guide- lines program." Get With The Guidelines®-S puts the expertise of the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to work for hospitals nationwide, helping hospital care teams ensure the care provided to patients is aligned with the latest research-based guidelines. Developed with the goal to save lives and improve recovery time, Get With The Guidelines®-S has impacted more than 3 million patients since 2003. According to the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association, stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of adult disability in the United States. On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 40 seconds, someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, and nearly 800,000 people suffer a new or recurrent stroke each year. Washington Regional receives Stroke Quality Achievement Award What is a silent stroke? metro creative ServiceS The brain is a complex organ responsible for controlling many different bodily functions. When working at optimal capacity, the brain is a wonder to behold. When illness or trauma affects the brain, various parts of the body may not work as they should. One of the more devastating things that can affect the brain is stroke. Stroke describes a sudden stoppage of blood from reach- ing the brain. Harvard Medical School states that if a large num- ber of brain cells are starved of blood supply, they can die. With their demise, a person's memory and ability to speak and move can be compromised. While many strokes come on suddenly, certain factors may indicate a person is at risk. Such factors may include prior heart attacks, genetics, high blood pressure, smoking, or a prior stroke. However, in a particular type of stroke - a "silent stroke" - symp- toms are far more subtle and difficult to spot. Silent cerebral infarction, often referred to as "SCI" or "silent stroke," is a brain injury likely caused by a blood clot interrupting blood flow to the brain, offers the American Stroke Association. Silent strokes increase risk for other strokes and can be a sign of progressive brain damage. A silent stroke is typically only noticed as a side component of an MRI of the brain. Many times patients do not recall having a stroke and never felt any symptoms. Silent strokes should not be mistaken for mini-strokes. Mini-stroke is a brief but discrete and memorable event, with symptoms appear- ing for a few minutes or a few hours. According to a study on silent stroke titled "Functional and Cognitive Consequences of Silent Stroke Discovered Using Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging in an Elderly Population" and pub- lished in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society, silent strokes are quite common and can have serious consequences. Research- ers have found that silent stroke is associated with impairments in tests of cognitive function rather than movement-oriented perfor- mance tests like rising from a chair. Almost 50 percent of studied silent strokes affected frontal circuit components of the brain, such as the frontal cortex, basal ganglia and thalamus. The "silent" part of a silent stroke also refers to the areas of the brain that the stroke affects. Experts at Harvard Medical School explain that, during a silent stroke, an interruption in blood flow destroys areas of cells in a part of the brain that is "silent," mean- ing that it doesn't control any vital functions. Researchers say that, over time, the damage from silent strokes can accumulate, leading to more and more problems with memory. Collectively, silent strokes become silent no longer. There are certain ways to reduce the risk of any type of stroke. These include: • Managing high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels • Quitting smoking • Reducing the risk of diabetes and effectively treat the con- dition if it is present • Losing weight to prevent obesity • Exercising and avoid a sedentary lifestyle • Taking a low-dose aspirin or a drug that prevents blood clots. Silent strokes largely go unrecognized but can lead to sig- nificant brain injury. Getting the facts can help men and women reduce their risk for silent stroke.