India lags behind in awareness

1.8 million Indians out of a population of 1.2 billion suffer from stroke every year. The rising incidence of stroke in India indicates the inadequate levels of awareness and education about the disease.

Surveys conducted over the last ten years reveal that about one-fourth of urban and one-third of rural respondents had no knowledge of any warning symptoms of stroke.

Only 55 percent of the urban population were aware of one warning symptom of stroke; 16.2 percent were aware of two symptoms; and, only 6.2 percent could identify three symptoms.

It has also been seen that the level of stroke knowledge is linked to the educational and socio-economic backgrounds of people.

In rural areas, therefore, the focus should be on educational intervention to improve awareness of stroke. There is an urgent need to strengthen awareness in the country to educate people on early identification of the signs and symptoms of stroke.

Without public knowledge, the right attitude and practices, the stroke burden cannot be reduced. Delay in identification and treatment contributes to high mortality and morbidity in stroke.

Early recognition of symptoms and prompt medical care are essential for providing appropriate treatment to prevent adverse conditions.

Other factors such as poor infrastructure and hesitancy about hospital admission even when infrastructure and access are available also lead to fatalities.

Stroke is treatable. When patients are brought to the hospital within 3-4 hours of suffering a stroke, the chances of survival are higher.

New stroke treatment guidelines recommend using a stent retriever device in addition to intravenous delivery of tissue plasminogen activator (IV-tPA) to remove blood clots in stroke patients with large blood clots blocking arteries to the brain.

Results from 5 major global clinical studies confirm that stent retrievers are a major advance in stroke care. The addition of stent retriever therapy to IV-tPA improves functional disability in patients, improved neurological outcomes and increased the rate of return to functional independence in patients suffering stroke.

By: Dr Ananta Ram, Neuro Interventional Radiologist, Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS Hospitals), Minister Road, Hyderabad.