Stroke is rapid and sudden damage to the brain. It is also known as brain attack or paralytic attack. Stroke is the third leading cause of death, after coronary heart disease and cancer. On an average, someone has a stroke every 40 seconds. More women die of stroke than of breast cancer.
Stroke can cause a lot of symptoms like weakness, numbness, slurred speech etc. Most of the strokes are painless. They can be easily diagnosed by patients and their relatives. REMEMBER THE 6 S METHOD TO DIAGNOSE STROKE:
The symptoms of stroke depend on what part of the brain is damaged. The most common symptoms include:
Symptoms depend on which part of the brain is affected and if not treated well in time, the weakness and other neurological defects may become permanent and extremely disabling.
Stroke is more common in adults older than 40 years however even children and babies can have stroke.
Stroke is preventable if you control your BP, sugar and cholesterol. Stop smoking. Indulge in an active lifestyle and daily exercise to prevent stroke.
Yes. The treatment depends on which kind of stroke the patient has. Up to 85 % of all strokes are ischemic (blocked blood vessel). For ischemic brain attack, there is an option of intravenous medication called tPA (recombinant tissue plasminogen activator) available which can be given to the patient within first 3 to 4.5 hours of the symptom onset. The patients who have a blockage in a large blood vessel can be offered a procedure called mechanical thrombectomy, which involves removing the blockage in the blood vessel and restoring the blood supply. This procedure is done through a small nick in the groin and there is no open surgery involved. Recent trials have shown that patients do exceedingly well post mechanical thrombectomy and have a greater chance to live life independently.
The most important part of stroke care is not the doctor or the hospital, it’s the patient! As most of the strokes are painless, patients tend to ignore their symptoms and hence delay the treatment. If the patient and the family are aware of stroke symptoms they can reach the hospital in time and can get treated
