Brain stroke awareness programme

On the occasion of World Stroke Day last Wednesday, MediCiti Neuro Centre organised a brain stroke awareness programme.

Senior neuro physicians from the hospital, Dr B Chandrasekhar Reddy and Dr CH Ratna Kishore, spoke about stroke risk factors, its symptoms, treatment and prevention. This was followed by an interactive session.

Brain stroke can happen at any age. Worldwide, one in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime. It is the second most common cause of death and dementia, and the most common cause of disability in adults.

In India, stroke prevalence was in every 100 to 200 per 1 lakh, and nearly 15 per cent of strokes occurred in less than 45 years of age. With changing lifestyles and increasing number of old people, stroke prevalence and its incidence has been increasing in the last few years and more young people are suffering.

The only treatment for ischemic brain stroke is thrombolysis or clot bursting treatment, which is to be given within first 3‐4 hours of stroke arrest. This improves the recovery of the patient significantly. Unfortunately, in Hyderabad less than 1 per cent of stroke patients receive the treatment.

The main reasons for this are unawareness of stroke symptoms and the non‐availability of neurologists. If any of the symptoms such as weakness in speech, walk or vision, a stroke can be suspected and a neurologist must be contacted immediately.

The most common risk factors are hypertension, diabetes, smoking, heart disease and family history of stroke. Once a patient is diagnosed to have had stroke, he has to take medications for the rest of his or her life, otherwise the chances of getting another stroke is high.