World Stroke Day observed on Sunday
An ischemic stroke happens because blood flow to the brain is blocked, while a hemorrhagic stroke occurs when there is sudden bleeding in the brain.
The public is urged to seek immediate medical attention when noticing stroke-related symptoms such as sudden weakness in the face, arm or leg, mostly on one side of the body.
This comes as countries observed World Stroke Day on October 29 to raise awareness of the disease that claims about 60 lives daily in SA. The good news is that a stroke does not have to be a death sentence because treatment is available in the public health sector.
If blood flow to the brain is blocked or there is sudden bleeding in the brain, a stroke can happen. There are two types of strokes.
An ischemic stroke happens because blood flow to the brain is blocked, while a hemorrhagic stroke occurs when there is sudden bleeding in the brain.
The symptoms of a stroke include:
• sudden onset of numbness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body; confusion, difficulty speaking or understanding speech;
• difficulty seeing with one or both eyes; •difficulty walking;
• dizziness and/or loss of balance or co-ordination;
• severe headache with no known cause and • fainting or unconsciousness.
Professor Mandisa Kakaza, the head of neurology at Steve Biko Academic Hospital (SBAH) and the University of Pretoria, said people need to be informed about strokes, how they present and how they are treated.
“It is crucial that we educate the public about the symptoms of strokes so that they can present early to their nearest health facilities for diagnosis and early treatment. This can improve the stroke outcome.
“The main thing that is worrying about stroke patients is that when they start noticing the neurological deficit, they always think it will get better on its own.
“Some, particularly amongst black Africans, believe they have been bewitched. This has to stop. People need to present at their local hospitals for treatment,” said Kakaza.
The chances of having a stroke increase with age, and people with high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes stand a higher risk of getting the disease.
However, most young patients who present with strokes at health facilities have auto-immune diseases where the body attacks itself, or they might have heart diseases that form clots and block vessels in the brain.
The effects of behavioural risk factors of strokes might show up in individuals as raised blood pressure, raised blood glucose, raised blood lipids, being overweight and obesity.
These risk factors include an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, tobacco use and the harmful use of alcohol. It is important for people with chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol to take treatment regularly to reduce the risk and prevent strokes.
SBAH’s stroke unit is the first and only internationally accredited stroke unit in SA. The hospital was recognised last year when it received the Diamond Stroke Award from the International European Stroke Congress for how it had improved the management of stroke patients.
The stroke unit at the hospital has state-of-the-art equipment and advanced technological devices, such as cameras linked to the cellphones of clinicians to alert them to the status of patients and Nintendo Wii games are used as part of physiotherapy for stroke patients. It also has rapid software that allows the unit to assess and treat patients up to nine hours after the onset of a stroke.
