History Of Stroke

600 BC

• Hippocrates, the father of medicine, first recognized stroke over 2,400 years ago.
• The Greeks called it apoplexy, which means "struck down by violence," because they had no explanation for it.

Mid-1600s

• In the mid-1600s, Jacob Wepfer, a man who dedicated his life to the dissection of corpses in the morgue of the University of Padua in Italy, discovered that something disrupted the blood supply in the brains of people who died from apoplexy. In some cases, the arteries were blocked; in others, there'd been massive bleeding into the brain tissue.

1920 - 1970s

• Treatment advances

1920s

• Contrast angiography developed

1940s

• Indicator dilution technique used to measure cerebral flow metabolism

1950s

• First carotid endarterectomy* performed

*Surgical excision of the inner lining of an artery that is clogged with atherosclerotic buildup.

1960s

• Doppler ultrasonography developed; Hypertension found to be a treatable risk factor

1970s

• Aspirin found to be effective in preventing stroke; CT Scan, PET scan used to determine brain metabolism

1980s

• Early aneurysm surgery improves outcomes. MRI introduced as diagnostic tool.
• New drugs lessen the risk of stroke.
• Increased emphasis on identifying the risk factors for stroke in women and minorities begin.
• Incidence of strokes increases due to drug abuse.
• Cigarette smoking is established conclusively as a major risk factor for stroke; and that cessation produces a significant risk reduction by two years, and to that of nonsmokers by five years.
• Treating isolated systolic hypertension in the elderly reduces stroke risk.

1990s

• Carotid endarterectomy* is clinically proven to be effective in preventing stroke
• Oral anticoagulants and aspirin effective in atrial fibrillation.
• Secondary prevention trials emphasize reducing blood pressure and cholesterol.
• The FDA approved tPA*, to treat stroke in the first three hours.
  *A drug that dissolves clots blocking brain arteries in certain cases of stroke.
• The addition of dipyridamole* to low-dose aspirin increases second stroke prevention.
  *A drug that opens up (dilates) coronary arteries.