30 SBI PENSIONERS ATTEND TALK ON ‘STROKE AWARENESS’
Vinay Kumar
Chandigarh
As many as 30 SBI pensioners attended an
Alchemist Hospital health talk on ‘stroke
awareness’ at SBI Bank, Sector 5 ,Panchkula on Thursday. The talk was organised
in association of SBI pensioners. Addressing talk, Dr Anurag Lamba, senior
consultant- neurology at Alchemist Hospital said, “ Every 20-second, one Indian
suffers a brain stroke, or three every minute, and the numbers are increasing
alarmingly due to changing lifestyles. At this rate, around 15-lakh Indians are
affected by strokes every year and 90% stroke patients failed to reach hospital
on time. The lifetime risk of stroke after the age of 55 is one in five for
women and one in six for men.” “Stroke is a sudden loss of function of a part
of the body. The simple rule is ‘BE FAST’—balance, eyes, face, arms, speech,
time,” he advised. If a person suffers from problems in balancing, change in
voice, sudden loss of vision, drops an object, giddiness, they must be rushed
to the hospital.” Dr Lamba cautioned that treatment for brain strokes cannot
start at home and a CT or a MRI scan is necessary. Dr Lamba further
said that studies show that on an average, a person waits for 13-hr after
experiencing the first symptoms of stroke before seeking medical care. Forty
two percent patients wait for as long as 24-hr. Therefore, awareness on the
issue is a must because it is critical to recognise the symptoms of stroke and
seek immediate emergency attention, maintained Dr Lamba. The time
frame to intervene is narrow and may be as short as upto 4-5 hours after onset
of symptoms, he said. Meanwhile a brain stroke occurs when a
blood vessel carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain is blocked by a clot or
bursts, causing the brain to starve. If deprived of oxygen for even a short
period of time, the brain cells begin to die. Once this happens, the part of
the body controlled by that section of the brain is affected, impairing
language, motor skills or vision or causing paralysis. “Compared to heart
attack, awareness about brain stroke, which is even more debilitating, is very
limited. Therefore awareness is a must to improve the scenario,” Dr.Lambaasserted. Preventing a stroke : 1. Eating a healthy diet. 2.
Maintaining a healthy weight. 3. Exercise regularly. 4. Don't smoke. 5.
Avoiding alcohol. 6. Keep BP and Diabetes under control
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