The American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association have just issued new guidelines for treating potential stroke patients.

Originally it was recommended that after the first stroke symptom was identified, that a patient could be treated with drugs up to 3 hours after it occured.

The new guidelines have increased this time windo up to 4 and a half hours, meaning that there is more time post first stroke symptom for someone to seek treatment.

Stroke patients are treated with drugs that thin the blood, thus making bloodflow easier to certain parts of the body such as the heart and brain.

Stroke medication, or blood clot busters, are derived from the human protein tissue plasminogen activator and are very effective at thinning the blood to reduce stroke risk.

Despite the new guidelines, the groups stress that the earlier a stroke patient is treated, the better prognosis they have of a full recovery.