To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Stroke Prevention Study Focused On African-Americans Launched URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/9E5A.htm Doctor's Guide August 9, 1996
DETROIT, Aug. 9, 1996-- The Detroit Medical Center is the only medical center in Michigan participating in an extensive, multi-state study of stroke prevention medications in the African-American community. Under the title the African-American Antiplatelet Stroke Prevention Study (AAASPS), the project is designed to accomplish what, historically speaking, few other large stroke studies have done. All participants will be African-American and as such, all the data produced will relate to African-Americans. "There have been numerous studies about stroke, but in many cases, African-Americans were not well represented in the data," said Dr. Seemant Chaturvedi, Harper Hospital neurologist, co-director of the acute stroke unit and assistant professor of neurology at Wayne State University. "With this study we will focus on that portion of the population that is at highest risk for stroke," he added. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States with a half million people suffering strokes each year, resulting in 150,000 deaths. Most strokes are the result of a blood clot formed in the brain or from the heart that blocks an artery to the brain. In the African-American population, the risk of having a stroke is twice as high as the risk in the general population. Also, African-Americans suffer more complications. The AAASPS will recruit 1,800 African-Americans who have suffered a stroke up to 90 days prior to entering the study. Potential participants will undergo a screening examination and laboratory tests to determine their eligibility. Study related medical care, medications and lab tests are free. The multi-year study is designed to compare the effectiveness of two medications, aspirin and ticlopidine, in the prevention of recurrent stroke. Both have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for that use. These medications belong to a group of drugs that render platelets, a component of blood that is important for clotting, less sticky, decreasing their tendency to form clots within blood vessels. Once in the study, patients will be randomly assigned to one of the stroke prevention treatments of either aspirin or ticlopidine. "We can be very assured that the data we are collecting is quite accurate. Also, in our study every patient receives medication that has been shown to be a good treatment for preventing another stroke," added Chaturvedi. For more AAASPS information, call 313-577-4244. The study is sponsored by Hoffman-LaRoche Incorporated and the National Institutes of Health. The Detroit Medical Center is a not-for-profit academic health care system composed of seven hospitals, two skilled nursing homes, and 45 ambulatory facilities in southeast Michigan. The system has 2,400 licensed beds, 2,400 affiliated physicians, and serves as the teaching and clinical research sites for the Wayne State University Medical School, the largest single campus medical school in the U.S. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.