Shaving a single minute between the onset of a stroke and treatment may increase the number of "healthy" days people live afterward, suggests a new research.

Researchers found that stroke patients gained about two days of healthy life for every minute spared between the onset of their stroke and when they first received treatment, on average, reports Fox News.

"Every 15 minutes you wait, you lose a month of life," Dr. Atte Meretoja told Reuters Health.

Meretoja is the study's lead author from the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Parkville, Australia.

The exact ratio of saved treatment time to healthy days varied by patient, he and his team found.

Although it's well known that early treatment for strokes is best, the new study helps highlight how significant even small delays can be, researchers said.

The 60 minutes from the onset of a stroke is often referred to as the "golden hour" for treatment, because people treated during that time have much better odds of completely recovering.

For the new report, the researchers compiled data from two studies to find how time to treatment is related to how patients fare after a stroke.

The studies, from Finland and Australia, included 2,258 stroke patients.

On average, the researchers found that patients gained 1.8 disability-free days for each minute shaved off the time to treatment.

They said hospitals have improved the time they take to get patients treatment. But there has been little success in shortening the time it takes for people to recognize they're having a stroke and get to a hospital.

Many organizations promote the FAST pneumonic device to remember the symptoms of a stroke: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty and Time to call 9-1-1 after any symptom.