May 17, 2008 1:50 pm US/Eastern
Not First Health Crisis For Kennedy
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Sen. Ted Kennedy
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Senator Ted Kennedy's hospitalization Saturday for a seizure is not the 76-year-old senator's first health scare.
In October, the senior Senator from Massachusetts had surgery to repair a nearly complete blockage in one of his carotid arteries - a major artery that supplies blood to the brain.
The blockage was discovered during a routine examination of a decades-old back injury. Doctors said at the time that Senator Kennedy's left carotid artery had, "a very high-grade blockage."
Distinguishing between a seizure and TIA, often called a mini-stroke, can sometimes be difficult.
Seizures are little electrical storms in the brain. They tend to be brief; an occasional one can happen to anyone even without a prior history of seizures, especially if there has been some prior brain trauma.
A stroke is either ischemic -- a clog in a blood vessel -- or hemorrhagic, bleeding in the brain. Hemorrhagic ones are very rare. Kennedy had the carotid artery surgery to try to prevent the ischemic type. A stroke kills brain tissue; how much depends on how big it is and how long it lasts.
Some people show no lasting effects; others can be partly paralyzed on one side or somewhere in-between.
An hour-long procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital to clear the artery was deemed a success by doctors. He returned to work just a couple weeks later, with doctors describing Kennedy's overall health as "excellent."
According to doctor accounts after that surgery, Kennedy takes blood-pressure and cholesterol medication
Senator Ted Kennedy is plagued by chronic back pain, ever since a 1964 plane crash that killed a pilot and one of Kennedy's aides. Along with the back injury, he suffered a punctured lung, broken ribs and internal bleeding in that crash.
Always concerned about maintaining his health, Kennedy regularly consults with a battery of Massachusetts General doctors. Still, he maintains homes in both Boston and Washington and attends not only official events, but numerous others recognizing his family's political history.
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