Gamot para sa stroke

Inilunsad kamakailan ang Perindopril Protection Against Recurrent Stroke Study (PROGRESS) sa Shangri-la EDSA Plaza Hotel, Mandaluyong City. Sa paglulunsad, isang makabuluhang scientific meeting din ang naganap na may kaugnayan sa stroke prevention. Ang PROGRESS ay itinatag sa pamamagitan ng Philippine Neurological Association (PNA).

Nagsagawa ng lecture si Dr. Joven Cuanang, prominent neurologist at president ng Stroke Society of the Philippines tungkol sa rationale, design and results ng PROGRESS.

Sa lecture, inilahad ni Dr. Cuanang ang kanyang conclusion tungkol sa kabutihang dulot ng Perindopril-based theraphy (gamot sa high blood pressure) kapag ginamit ng pasyenteng nagdanas na ng major at minor stroke. Ayon kay Dr. Cuanang, ang Perindopril ay 28 percent na nakababawas sa salakay ng ikalawang stroke; nababawasan nito ang panganib sa heart attack ng one third; at nababawasan ng 50 percent ang panganib ng hemorrhagic stroke.

Maraming makabuluhang tanong at comments ang nagmula sa audience na kinabibilangan ng mga specialists physicians partikular ang mga leading cardiologist ng bansa. Sinabi ni Dr. Dante Morales na ang PROGRESS ay kauna-unahang landmark study na naka-focus sa stroke o brain attack.

On the other hand, Dr. Homobono Calleja commented on the difficulty of persuading patients with normal blood pressures to take a drug for high blood pressure like Perindopril. Dr. Ramon Abarquez even suggested that Perindopril’s benefits may have been due to its effect on the structure and function of the brain’s blood vessels.

One of the most significant questions, however was asked by Dr. Mayvelyn Gose, a top neurologist and president of the Movement Disorder Society of the Philippines, who said that she usually sent her stroke patients home without drugs for high blood pressure, and would Dr. Cuanang then use Perindopril-based theraphy in a stroke survivor with a normal blood pressure of 120/80, to which Dr. Cuanang responded with a resounding YES.

May mahalagang sinabi si Dr. Cuanang ng gabing iyon: "To prevent stroke recurrence, we as physicians must actively. Continously and conscientiously control the blood pressure." Ang sinabing ito ni Dr. Cuanang ay sinang-ayunan ng nakararamng audience.

Ang nangyaring meeting ay mahalaga. Sana’y magkaroon pa ng mga ganitong meeting na hindi lamang ang mga doktor ang makikinabang kundi pati na rin ang publiko.