Guide to Common Stroke Medications

There are a number of commonly used medications to treat and prevent strokes. Most, however, are used to prevent. There is only one medication available in the United States that has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of a stroke and that's tissue plasminogen activator, tPA, or Activase. Activase is a thrombolytic drug and can help prevent irreversible damage done by a stroke if administered within 3 hours of having the stroke. TPA is used only for ischemic strokes and a CT scan must be done before it's administered to confirm that the stroke is not hemorrhagic. That's why getting proper medical attention after you believe you've had a stroke is very important.

By far the easiest medication you can take over the counter to help prevent a stroke is aspirin. Other anti platelet drugs that are used to prevent strokes include: clopidogrel, or Plavix; dipyridamole, or Aggrenox and Persantine; and ticlopidine, or Ticlid. Anti platelet drugs are usually given 48 hours after an ischemic stroke and continued on a low dose to help prevent a recurrence. Anti platelets work by keeping the blood from clotting and may prevent the risk of a second stroke by 25%.

Two anticoagulant stroke medications are also commonly prescribed. The first is heparin and the second is warfarin. Anticoagulants thin the blood in your body and can be very beneficial during a stroke. The second drug, warfarin, may not be as effective as aspirin in preventing a second stroke, but it is great for high-risk people with artrial fibrillation. Heparin, on the other hand, is incredibly potent and has been used to treat ischemic strokes since the early 1940's. It's now recommended that heparin only be used for patients at risk for thromboembolism.

There's also a drug that's specifically for hemorrhagic stroke victims. Calcium channel blockers should be administered early to improve the outcome of the stroke. The calcium helps by contracting the muscles of the vessels, preventing them from spasming and cutting off airflow to the brain.

Stroke victims or those at a high risk may also receive a number of other medications that will treat diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. All of these conditions can cause or worsen a stroke.

Resources
"Stroke Medications." Stroke Center. 22 March 2007. 24 May 2009. www.strokecenter.org/patients/medications.htm

"Stroke Medications." New York Times. 16 September 2008. 25 May 2009. http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/stroke/medications.html