New drug Cerovive could help lessen the damage once a stroke has occurred. It appears to do damage control, and limit the amount of brain affected by stroke after it’s happened. Learn more about it in this two-minute video clip. Cerovive significantly reduced disability from stroke compared to placebo in a study that involved 1700 people. It works to insulate the brain tissue that surrounds the initial area suffering a stroke, so that the damage is limited. It might be used along with other medications that reopen blood flow.
New drug Cerovive could help lessen the damage once a stroke has occurred. It appears to do damage control, and limit the amount of brain affected by stroke after it’s happened. Right now, with currently available medicine, you have to get to the emergency room within three hours to get the treatment that could halt or reverse the harm done by stroke.
Cerovive appears to do damage control, and limit the amount of brain affected by stroke after it’s happened.
“I remember going to the door and trying to open the door knob and not being able to.”
Two months ago, New York State assemblyman Steven Cymberwitz was having a stroke. “I remember sitting on the couch and thinking this is ridiculous, I can’t be having a stroke. Next thing I knew I fell flat on my face because my entire left side was paralyzed,” says Steve.
He was rushed to the emergency room, and given the clot busting drug TPA. It’s the only drug for stroke today, and few patients get to the ER in time to get it.
Cymberwitz did. “All of a sudden I was able to lift my left arm,” says Steve.
But now an new experimental drug, Cerovive, may soon be added to TPA as another effective stroke treatment. Cerovive significantly reduced disability from stroke compared to placebo in a study that involved 1700 people.
A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is cut off. Brain cells start to die, and that causes the release of toxic molecules which then damage surrounding brain tissue, causing the death of more brain cells, and spread of the stroke. That means worse deficits, including loss of speech, movement, and memory, and sometimes even death.
Cerovive works to in essence insulate the brain tissue that surrounds the initial area suffering a stroke, so that the damage is limited. It might be used along with other medications that reopen blood flow.
Dr. Steven Rudolph is studying the drug at Maimonedes Medical Center. He says, “The therapies we have will work better and may be able to be given later. This may buy time for people, which is very important because we don’t have that now. It’s a question of how well it works, but this is a new era and its important just for that.”
Ask Assemblyman Cymberwitz about the importance of medication therapy for stroke. “The only lingering effect that I have is some fine motor skills with my left hand. Its amazing what modern science has done I’m a perfect poster child for drugs like TPA that can save someone’s life,” he states.
There is one problem- there was no significant benefit seen based on a National Institutes of Health scale of disability. Still, industry analysts say Cerovive has strong enough potential benefits at this time. More studies are still being done, including looking for the most effective and safe dose.
Cerovive will be submitted for FDA approval in about a year.
For more information on Cerovive, go to :
http://www.renovis.com/prd_cero.shtml