Risk factors for stroke

WORLD Stroke Day was recognised on October 29 to inform people about the illness, as well as to highlight the risks and prevention methods. According to internist Dr Samantha Nicholson, a stroke is just as serious as a heart attack, but it is the brain which is affected and not the heart.

A stroke occurs when an area of the brain has died. Dr Nicholson explained that this happens when there is a blockage in a blood vessel that supplies that particular area of the brain, or the blood vessel ruptures and leaks into the brain preventing the area from getting blood. As a result the area dies from lack of oxygen and nutrients. A bleeding blood vessel has a higher rate of death than a blocked blood vessel.

Women are at a higher risk of getting strokes than men.

The following risk factors are common in women:

1. Hypertension

2.Diabetes

3. High cholesterol

4. Lupus

5. Sickle Cell

6. Smoking

7. Atrial fibrillation (a type of irregular heartbeat which forms blood clots that leave the heart and travel to the brain and cause blockage).

There are ways to know that an area of your brain is dead or dying:

1. One side of your body is weaker than the other

2. A leg or arm can stop moving

3. Loss of speech

4. Slurred speech

5. Speaking gibberish

6. Your face appears ‘lean’

7. Seizure

8. Inability to construct an entire sentence.

Dr Nicholson advised that if these symptoms occur you should get to the hospital within three hours to get medical attention because tests must be done to determine the type of stroke to give patients the correct treatment to lower the risk of a permanent disability. Unfortunately, this only applies to a blood clot stroke, and can only be given if you get to the hospital within the three-hour window. If the blood pressure is high and if the patient recently did surgery, the treatment cannot be administered.

Stroke affects women in different ways. Sometimes after getting a stroke they lose their ability to understand oral or written speech, to speak or to walk, and another stroke might even occur. Some people get bed sores because they are confined to a bed.

Because a part of your brain is dead, nothing can be done to resurrect it. Miraculously though, Dr Nicholson says even though that part is dead, sometimes other connections in the brain can reach the area and you will get some return of function.

Here’s how to avoid getting a stroke.

1. Exercise

2. Stop neglecting your health. If you have hypertension, diabetes or high cholesterol you must get the necessary treatment

3. Avoid a high-salt diet

4. Stop smoking.