It's the number one cause of disability in the United States, but there's only one FDA approved drug to treat stroke patients in the first critical minutes. Researchers say a combination treatment could stop patients from slipping away.

Stroke survivor Helen Whitehead is one of the first to receive a new experimental treatment. The drug she received is minocycline, an antibiotic that travels to the brain and protects neurons.

"The beauty of minocycline may be is that it's dirty," David C. Hess, M.D., a neurologist at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Ga., explained. "It works by multiple mechanisms, but that may be what we need in stroke."

Currently, the only approved drug for stroke is tPA. Because it has to be administered within three hours and causes bleeding, only two percent of patients get it.

"Because stroke is a complex disease where cascades are unfolding within minutes, sometimes seconds," Dr. Hess said.

He says minocycline minimizes complications from tPA, which is why patients in the study are getting both. Research shows when minocycline is given within six hours of a stroke and up to three days after, it reduces damage by as much as 40 percent.

"We're hoping that down the road that minocycline, both with and without tPA, will make the patients more likely to be healthier and back to normal within three months," Dr. Hess explained.

Three weeks ago, Jeraldine Albea's husband jerry suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed.

"When I first saw him, I could see fear in his eyes because he knew he couldn't talk," Jeraldine described.

After treatment with tPA and minocycline, the handy-man is back at work.

"If I hadn't been able to get these drugs, I'd probably be in a wheelchair, not able to talk, move my hands," Jerry said.

The drugs stopped a stroke from changing this couple's future.

"I just think it's a miracle," Jeraldine said.

The minocycline trial is testing the drug in 60 stroke patients in Georgia, Kentucky and Oregon. It's funded by the national institutes of health. A larger trial will follow. Because minocycline is a generic drug, researchers say it could make stroke treatment far less expensive and more accessible if proven effective.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

David Hess, MD Medical College of Georgia (706) 721-1691 http://www.mcg.edu