Need for increased awareness on stroke

Chennai: The symptoms of stroke, which is the third most common cause of death in Tamil Nadu and the country, and the second most common cause of death worldwide, lacks in awareness, according to neurologists.

Though considered a fatal disease due to the fact that it can paralyse people, doctors say that one can be restored if he understands the symptoms early enough. It is only a matter of time, neurologists say.

At a conference organised by the Neurological Society of India, neurologists said that if a person is ensured treatment within the first hour of the stroke, it is possible for the patient to make almost a full recovery.  

“When a person suffers a heart attack, they mostly get quite distinctive symptoms. However, the symptoms in the case of a stroke are silent. They are sometimes mistaken for temporary pains and ignored,” Dr Shridhar, Director of Neurology, Global Health Hospitals explained.

With the lack of any form of pain felt while having a stroke, doctors feel creating awareness on the tell-tale signs is the need of the hour. “To make people aware of this condition, we have come up with a term called F-A-S-T to enable the public to identify the signals. FAST stands for facial deviation, arm weakness, speech difficulty and time,” said a neurologist.

Doctors say that time is brain and refer to the immediate time of treatment as the ‘golden hour’. “If a patient is rushed into the hospital immediately after the stroke, in that ‘golden hour’ we can ensure that they can get back to their normal self soon,” said Shridhar.

The neurologists said the same principal applies to head injury cases too. “The highest number of deaths among the youth is because of accidents because either they just lie on the road as passers-by ignore them or they are taken to a smaller clinic which lacks equipment to treat the patient,” said Harish Manian, COO, Continental Hospitals.

Besides this, doctors say that the most important thing is awareness. “Even if there is a slight doubt that a person might be having a stroke, the first thing to do is to get medical help. Numbness, slurring, unusual body language are all signs of a stroke. But treatment in the ‘golden hour’ can ensure both the life and quality of life of the patient,” Shridhar said.