Medications for Stroke Treatment

Therapy using the most effective and safe medications is an important part of treatment at the Comprehensive Stroke Center. Medications are used to treat people who are in the middle of a stroke, and to prevent a first or second stroke.

The most common drugs used to treat a person suffering a stroke are the so-called “clot-busting drugs.”

The DNV-GL accredited Comprehensive Stroke Center uses a class of drugs, similar to naturally occurring substances in the body, that cause blood clots to dissolve. The body, however, doesn’t always create enough of these substances, so a manufactured substitute is used, which is known as a tissue plasminogen activator.

Tissue plasminogen activator can help stop a stroke in progress and limit later complications in the stroke patient. But to be effective, tissue plasminogen activator must be administrated within four and half hours after the onset of the stroke.

Drugs used to prevent a stroke are known generally as antithrombotics. They help prevent stroke by stopping blood clots from forming and blocking arteries. There are two types: anticoagulants, also called “blood thinners,” and antiplatelets, which include aspirin and Clopidogrel (Plavix).