13 Jan 2019

Stroke remains a worldwide challenge as it causes many deaths and disabilities.

That was said by Dr Ishmael Mudari, Medical Practitioner at Riverside Private Hospital in Francistown in an interview recently.

Dr Mudari said about 15 million people were affected by stroke worldwide every year, with about  five million dying and another five million being permanently disabled as a result.

Describing stroke, Dr Mudari said it was a medical condition in which blood flow to the brain is poor, resulting in cell death.

He added that there are two types of stroke namely ischemic stroke caused by lack of blood flow to the brain and hemorrhagic stroke, which is caused by bleeding in the brain because of the bursting of brain cells.

He said 85 per cent of strokes were ischemic whereas 15 per cent of strokes were hemorrhagic.

Dr Mudari said stroke could last less than two hours, which is known as transient ischemic attack/mini stroke, or last longer or even be permanent.

He said stroke could cause temporary or permanent disabilities, depending on how long the brain lacks blood flow and which parts are affected.

He said common symptoms of stroke included lack of muscle movement causing paralysis or numbness of the face, leg or arm, difficulty in talking and swallowing, memory loss, loss of vision on one or both eyes, emotional problems and pain in affected parts.

He added that long term complications might also include pneumonia or loss of bladder control.

Permanent stroke could easily lead to death or permanent disabilities.

He said the main risk factor that leads to stroke is high blood pressure, which contributed to more than 12.7 million strokes cases worldwide every year.
 

Dr Mudari also said the other risks  include the use of drugs such as cocaine, cigarette smoking or exposure to second hand smoking, obstructive sleep or lack of sleep and old age (the older the person, the higher the chances of stroke.)

He also said those with a family history of stroke where the closest member had stroke had a higher chance of experiencing stroke.

He said cardiovascular diseases such as heart failures, heart defects or heart diseases also placed one at a high risk of a stroke.

Regarding prevention of stroke, Dr Mudari said precautions included controlling high blood pressure, exercising regularly, lowering cholesterol and saturated fat in diets, quitting tobacco use or avoiding getting exposure to second hand smoke, controlling diabetes, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a lot of fruits and vegetables.

He also said at home stroke patients need to be given love, care and support at all times for them to recover.

He said family members or friends had to apply the ‘FAST’ (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) tests to a person displaying signs of a stroke at home in order to be sure if the person was indeed experiencing a stroke.

Face - ask the affected person to smile and check if one side of the face is drooping including mouth having moved to one side).

Arms - ask a person to raise both arms, and see if one arm would go downward or unable to move).

Speech - asking the person to repeat a simple phrase and notice if speech is strange or slurred.

Time - take the affected person to the medical facility as early as possible.

Dr Mudari said it might be easy to medically control or manage mini stroke, but very difficult to manage a permanent one.

He explained that surgery could be used to open up the arteries leading to the brain, and stroke affected patients could be given medication to help ease blood flow to the brain. ENDS