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Posted on Sep 30, 2002, 6 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
Results of a recent study suggests that stroke patients whose body temperature is below-average when they are admitted to hospital are significantly more likely to be alive 5 years later than patients with higher temperatures. Dr Lars Peter Kammersgaard and his colleagues at University Hospital Gentofte in Hellerup, Denmark found that a patient's risk of dying within 5 years of their stroke rose by 30% for each 1-degree Celsius rise in body temperature.
Results of a recent study suggests that stroke patients whose body temperature is below-average when they are admitted to hospital are significantly more likely to be alive 5 years later than patients with higher temperatures. Dr Lars Peter Kammersgaard and his colleagues at University Hospital Gentofte in Hellerup, Denmark found that a patient's risk of dying within 5 years of their stroke rose by 30% for each 1-degree Celsius rise in body temperature. The researchers suspect that lowering body temperature for several hours after stroke, a procedure known as hypothermic therapy, could have long-lasting effects on a patient's chance of survival.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association 2002; 33:1759-1762
