Bret Michaels’ condition survivable, expert says

[HMG] – While any real detail is hard to acquire, experts reviewing the news on Bret Michaels say his condition is serious, but his prospects are good;

Dr. Joseph Broderick, a member of the American Academy of Neurology, Chairman of the University of Cincinnati’s  Neurology Department and a specialist in the treatment of acute strokes says Bret has a good chance of near-normal life down the road.

“He had a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which is not the most common type of stroke,” says the Doc. “This only happens in about 5% of cases, where you have almost an explosion of blood around the base of the brain. It can be very serious.”

1 in 3 of those who suffer such an attack die within 30-days, says Dr. Broderick. But many survive and live long, almost normal lives from then on.

Currently, Bret remains in intensive care and is said to be ‘stable.’ The major risk factors are past drug and alcohol use, but there’s no word on whether these things were part of his life. Bret is awake, but suffering slurred speech  and poor vision as a result of the bleed.

“These are pretty common after this type of stroke, and it can get worse,” Dr. Broderick tells MTV. “The arteries can go into spasm after four or five days and things get worse over the next week or so.”

If they occur in Bret’s case these spasms could cause new strokes which then block the flow of blood to the brain. But Broderick says his doctors will have a better idea of Bret’s chances in 3-4 weeks.

Diabetic since childhood, Bret also underwent an emergency appendectomy earlier this month. Dr. Broderick says it’s not clear if the diabetes might be linked to the bleeding, but inflammation from the surgery could also be seen as a cause.

Modern medicine resolves 90% of cases like Bret’s and Dr. Broderick says keeping him stable is not even hard;

“If it’s an aneurysm, they cook it or put a clip on it and isolate it,” he said. “If you can’t find the cause, you wait for the effects to wear off and just observe.”

Personally, I subscribe to the theory that at least part of the cause was the head injury Bret suffered at last June’s ‘Tony Awards.’ But whatever the origin we all wish the man well…