Call 911 if you suspect a stroke.

Fast and effective care is essential in the successful treatment of a stroke. That's where the specialists at UI Hospitals and Clinics come in. They provide comprehensive care that stops strokes, minimizes lingering effects, and prevents their recurrence.

Because strokes often reoccur, the UI Hospitals and Clinics multidisciplinary stroke team may prescribe medical or surgical interventions, including endovascular neurosurgical techniques.

For more information or for an appointment, call the UI Stroke Clinic through UI Health Access at 800-777-8442 or 319-384-8442.

"The best response to the appearance of the symptoms of stroke is to seek medical attention immediately. Treatments may lessen the brain injury and the chances of success are tied to how quickly treatment starts from the onset of stroke. Sooner truly is better."

-- Harold Adams, MD, UI Hospitals and Clinics stroke specialist

What happens? 

Also called TIAs, are minor or warning strokes. In a TIA, symptoms mimic a stroke but the obstruction of the artery (blood clot) resolves itself after a short time through normal mechanisms. A TIA implies that the underlying blood vessel disease is changing and the patient is at a high risk for stroke.

During a stoke, or "brain attack," the blood flow to an area of the brain is interrupted, and brain cells in the affected area begin to die. Ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke accounting for almost 80 percent of strokes, is caused by a blood clot that blocks an artery leading to the brain.

Approximately 20 percent of strokes are due to bleeding into (intracerebral hemorrhage) or around the brain (subarachnoid hemorrhage). Both are usually secondary to a sudden rupture of an artery or an arterial abnormality.

The effects of a stroke depend on two things— where the brain was injured and how much damage occurred. A stroke can have a wide variety of effects, including your ability to:

• Move and coordinate movement
• Feel touch, temperature, pain, and movement
• See or interpret what you see
• Think, remember, understand, plan, reason, or problem-solve
• Speak, understand speech, read, write, and do math

"The best treatment for stroke is to prevent the event from happening nin the first place.

People should treat the conditions that increase the risk of stroke, like high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and smoking."

-- Harold Adams, MD, UI Hospitals and Clinics stroke specialist