MUSC Catalyst 9-26-2014

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Sept. 26, 2014

MEDICAL UNIVERSITY of SOUTH CAROLINA

Vol. 33, No. 6

The changing image of stroke recovery $10.8 M COBRE/NIH grant funds stroke recovery center BY MIKIE HAYES Public Relations

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ou lived through the stroke. That’s the good news. When you woke up that morning you had no idea you would be in for the fight of your life. Fortunately, a loved one recognized the warning signs and got you to MUSC’s Comprehensive Stroke Center where the Brain Activation Team was able to administer a thrombolytic agent to bust the clot or rushed you to surgery to undergo a thrombectomy to remove it. But now you are in for a different fight. In terms of hoping to resume a good or even reasonable quality of life, what comes next can be nearly as important as making it through the stroke: rehabilitation and recovery. The lifetime risk of stroke is 1 in 6. That amounts to 795,000 Americans suffering a new or recurrent stroke every year. South Carolina falls into an area known as the “stroke belt,” a name given by public health officials to a region of the southeastern U.S. that has an unusually high incidence of strokes. The state also has the distinction of being included in the “buckle” of the belt as 16,000 South Carolinians suffer a stroke each year. The state also has a couple of other disadvantages: It has one of the highest incidences of stroke mortality in the nation and the age at stroke onset is younger here than the national average. Stroke is one of the most disabling conditions in the U.S. and one of the main causes of long-term disability. When a person lives through a stroke, often the effects of the stroke will negatively impact quality of life. In the U.S., 50 percent of stroke patients will have a

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Road Closures Parking Management details temporary road closures.

photo by Sarah Pack, Public Relations

Stroke survivor Patricio Gombs checks out his gait while in MUSC’s locomotor rehabilitation laboratory that houses a ZeroG mobile body weight support system (only the 6th one installed nationally) designed to retrain walking ability using a split-belt treadmill. resultant deficit (weakness of one side), 30 percent will be unable to walk without assistance, 26 percent will be dependent in activities of daily living, and up to 38 percent will have aphasia. According to the National Center on Biotechnology Information, aphasia, which is defined as an impaired ability to communicate, is at

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the top of the list of symptoms people fear most about stroke. Today, there are more than 7 million people in the United States who have survived a stroke and are living with the aftereffects. With these types of serious

See Stroke on page 6

An Intern’s Experiences

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Applause

P.R. intern gains skill and confidence in her craft.

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Meet Geraldine

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Cyber Awareness Month

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