Symptoms of stroke different in women

October 28, 2002

By Reuters, 10/26/2002

WASHINGTON - Women suffering a stroke may receive delayed treatment

because their symptoms are not so well known as those of men,

researchers reported yesterday.

Women suffering from stroke are likely to say they have headache, face

and limb pain, disorientation, and other less recognized stroke

symptoms, the researchers reported in the ls of Emergency Medicine.

It is vital to treat stroke, the third-leading cause of death in the

United States, as quickly as possible. Brain cells start to die and

continue to die in the hours after a stroke, but quick treatment can

minimize damage.

Doctors are trained to look for symptoms that include sudden changes in

sensation, walking ability, balance, motor functions - including

paralysis of one side of the body - speech, vision, and dizziness.

Therefore, a woman's ''nontraditional'' symptoms may be overlooked

during the precious hours when stroke therapies work best, said the

researchers at the University of Michigan Health System and the

University of Texas at Houston.

''Our findings have important consequences for stroke diagnosis and

treatment,'' said Dr. Morgenstern of the University of Michigan,

who led the study.

''These differences are both biologically interesting and socially

consequential,'' he said. ''They are important to medical education,

too, because often medical students and others are trained that stroke

is a man's disease. It's not.''

Dr. Lise Labiche of the University of Texas said the findings show why

it is crucial to study women as well as men in medical trials.

''Unless diseases are specifically studied in women, it can be wrongly

assumed that women and men behave the same way. It is crucial to

recognize that differences do occur between the genders,'' Labiche said.

This story ran on page A3 of the Boston Globe on 10/26/2002.

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