h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Stroke treatment (work in progress) - A2150939
Author: leo mckern [space for random exotic word juxtaposition generator] - U534308

A little piece about stroke treatment

i like it

Hi there!

First off, I think it would be good to make clear -- in both title and introduction -- that this entry is about *acute* treatment for stroke, and not long-term treatment of sequelae, which is what I think most lay people probably think of when they hear "stroke treatment".

Secondly, I would also encourage you to go through the entry, and try to elminate or reduce jargon as much as possible - or if a word is simply the only word that will work, use a footnote to explain it. We want Edited Guide entries to be potentially useful to everyone who reads them, not just those familiar with medical terminology.


Mikey

This is going to be a good Entry once it's completed. One item of jargon to explain is 'penumbra.
I think the name of the technique Diffusion-Perfusion MRI should be written with the first two words beginning with a capital letter, as I've done here, to indicate that the whole 5 words are the name of the procewss. (So, write Magnetic Resonance Imaging in full here, this eliminating the need fo a footnote.

I may be back later as I've only skimmed this thus far.

with it.

Hi,

This is good as far as it goes. I'd suggest, along with Mikey, that you either add in some more stuff on primary and secondary prevention of stroke or emphasise that this is an Entry about acute management only. If you do the latter, some snazzy titles might include 'Stroke - A Medical Emergency' (because that's what it's slowly becoming with new thrombolysis treatments) or 'Brain Attack! - Early management for stroke'.

You need to explain the penumbra more clearly in layman's terms, like '... in a stroke part of the brain dies immediately, but research has shown that some of the areas surrounding the dead tissue take several hours to die. This area is called the penumbra'...

Worth mentioning that tPA is given intravenously. Some early research into intra-arterial thrombolysis looks promising (at least for strokes in the anterior circulation, via the carotid artery).

Make the distinction between ischaemic stroke and haemorrhagic stroke absolutely clear, again in layman's terms.

That'll do for now. A really good start, keep up the good work

Matt

I can see that this will be a great entry, but as noted above, you need to write a little more for the layman like me. Sentences like 'Diffusion perfusion magnetic resonance imaging that...' make me reach for a dictionary!

Perhaps as this is a 'work in progress' it could be better placed in the Writing-Workshop rather than Peer Review? It's a good place to get things worked on, and Peer Review is for finished entries. Just an idea!

Keepup the good work!

Hi again, I was just checking in on this Entry and was comparing it to the edited Entry you referred to, which is A543061 , I assume.

At the moment, it seems pretty thorough (although the spelling is a little American for my tastes ). If you want to update the Entry (and there is scope for updating it, with details around the new experimental treatments, the suitably explained concept of the penumbra, and adding links to hootoo Entries created after 2001), probably the best way to go about it is to use the Update Forum. One of the more experienced people on this site can explain more about how this works (if they agree with me, of course!).

Anyway, glad to see you've taken some of the changes on board. Don't get disheartened now!

Matt

Just a note: If this is work in progress then PR is not the right place for it.

Nice topic though. And informative.

DR. HELL

I agree with Matt that the Update Forum would be a better route to take for this.

Just having a tidy up Leo; any chance you could remove this from Peer Review by going to PeerReview and clicking on 'Remove'?

Hope this see this back when it's finished

It is finished. If people would look beyond the title...

Right. The WIP bit is gone.

Looks good.

HELL

(thrombotic stroke)blocking = (thrombotic stroke) blocking

reopen = re-open

"brain attack" = 'brain attack'

The drug , tissue plasminogen activator = The drug,

(tPA) = (t-PA) Ref: http://www.lef.org/protocols/prtcl-102.shtml#tpa

intraarterially = intra-arterially

NMDA receptor 5 blockers = the footnote needs to be next to "receptor" (no space)

(with current treatment anyway). This can't go in an edited entry - how long will the treatment remain "current"?

Picking up high blood pressure and treating it - I don't like the words "Picking up" here - perhaps "Detecting" would be better?

Your first 4 footnotes all need to be started in Capital letters. Plus all 5 footnotes require a full-stop. (They are sentences on their own).

GB

Leo? Have you covered Galaxy Babe's points?

Author hasn't posted for over two months - back to entry?

Go for it.