Dr. Simon says both white men and women did pretty much equally well on tPA.   African American men a little less of a response, but the drug was still pretty effective in stopping their strokes.

 

"But the amazing thing was in the African American women, it had no effect,"  says Simon.

"It wasn't that there was less effect, or an attenuated effect.  There was no effect at all."

 

Dr. Simon says more research is needed - to determine what this means for African American women.

 

Until then, he says a better option for Black women may be a thrombectomy.  That's a minimally invasive procedure in which doctors mechanically remove a blood clot from the brain to restore blood flow to the damaged tissue.  Over the last few years, this approach has become more common.  But, the procedure is still relatively new, and is only available at major stroke centers like Grady Memorial Hospital.