Around 240 people a day have a stroke in South Africa, reports the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa (HSFSA). One in four of them die, and one in three who survive are left with disabilities. Here’s what you need to know:
1. What is it?
A stroke occurs when hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), a blood clot, or a ruptured blood vessel interrupts the supply of blood to your brain. This starves your brain cells of oxygen and they start to die. Depending on the severity of the stroke, the result is weakness, paralysis, visual and speech problems, coma and death.
2. Recognise the signs of a stroke
Sudden numbness, weakness or paralysis of the face, arm or leg, usually on one side of the body; sudden difficulty talking or understanding speech; sudden difficulty seeing; sudden dizziness, loss of balance or co-ordination and trouble walking; and sudden severe headache, “like being hit by a thunderbolt”, says Johannesburg neurosurgeon Dr Johann Stegmann.
3. Use the FAST test Face
Ask the person to smile: Does one side of their face droop? Arms: Ask them to raise both: Is there weakness on one side? Speech: Ask them to repeat a short sentence: Can they say it clearly? Time: get them to hospital fast, and note the time of the first symptoms so you can tell doctors.
Clot-busting drugs (tissue plasminogen activators) can limit the severity of strokes caused by clots and save lives, says Stegmann – but they need to be administered within the first three hours of the onset of stroke symptoms. “It’s critically important to get the person you suspect is having a stroke to an emergency care unit as quickly as possible,” says Prof Pamela Naidoo, CEO of the HSFSA.
4. Keep emergency numbers handy
Find out where your closest primary stroke centre hospital is and save the number on your cellphone and in your wallet. Add the toll-free number for emergency services ambulances (112 from a cellphone, 10177 from a landline). Save your medical aid and next of kin details on your cellphone under ICE (In Case of Emergency).
5. Be proactive
Help keep strokes at bay by preventing or addressing conditions that raise your risk for them: hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, heart disease and HIV/Aids. If you have these conditions, be on special alert for the signs of stroke, says Prof Naidoo.
6. Watch your diet
Eat healthily and moderately, avoiding trans and saturated (animal) fats, refined carbohydrates (such as sugar) and salt (which promotes hypertension). Have plenty of vegetables and fruits (people who averaged eight or more servings of these a day were 30% less likely to have a stroke or heart attack, in a study reported by the Harvard School of Public Health).
Add lean meat, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, pulses, and a little healthy fat (raw nuts, seeds, avocado, and vegetable oils). Have no more than one alcoholic drink a day if you’re a woman, two for men.
7. Get regular exercise
At least 30 minutes, five times a week, to keep your cardiovascular system healthy and control your weight. Combine aerobic exercise (swimming, cycling, walking, gardening, dancing) with resistance training several times a week to build muscle (metabolically active tissue that burns more kilojoules).
8. Learn to relax
Stress has been linked to a raised risk for stroke, encouraging unhealthy coping behaviours such as smoking, drinking and overeating. Manage stress with exercise, an absorbing hobby and by unwinding with friends.
9. Get enough sleep
Several studies have found that getting less than six hours a night increases the risk of stroke – it appears to increase blood pressure, encourage inflammation and alter metabolic hormones.
10. Kick the habit
Stop smoking, and help others in your family to stop too: Smoking can more than double your risk of stroke, damaging arteries and thickening blood, says Prof Naidoo. According to the US Institute of Medicine Committee on Secondhand Smoke Exposure, studies indicate that secondhand smoke increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 25-30%.
11. Get examined
Go for annual checkups, and have your weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels checked. (Clicks Clinics offer a range of screenings, 0860 254 257.)
If you have a stroke, even a mini one (a transient ischemic attack or TIA), where part of the brain is temporarily deprived of blood and oxygen), get it checked out immediately. Many TIA sufferers go on to have a major stroke later; and after any stroke you stand a 25 to 45% chance of another stroke within five years.
For information on strokes and for dietary and other guidelines, contact the HSFSA, 021 422 1586. The Angels Initiative works to improve care for people globally who have just suffered a stroke.
IMAGE CREDIT: Getty Images