“He had a stroke while sleeping and 12-14 hours had passed. Luckily, we were able to remove the clot and he’s now able to lead a normal life,” says the neurologist at Apollo Hospitals.Studies indicate stroke is not only the second leading cause of death worldwide. The steepest increase in prevalence occurs in middle-income and low-income countries such as India.
As per a report published this month in the journal Lancet Neurology, strokes could lead to nearly 10 million deaths a year by 2050.
More people in their 30s and 40s have been getting strokes in the past decade, say neurologists in the city. WHO estimates risk of developing a stroke has increased by 50% in the past 17 years.
“Stroke is a treatable condition, but often the patient is beyond the treatable window period when they are brought to us,” says Dr Roopesh Kumar, director of neurosurgery at MGM HealthCare. The biggest mistakes are failing to detect the symptoms, delay in reaching the hospital on time and not going to the right hospital, he says.
“People need to call an ambulance and ask them to take the patient to a hospital with CT scan and MRI facilities, not just to the nearest hospital. These facilities are essential to diagnose a stroke.”
Otherwise, precious time will be lost in redirecting the patient, and with each passing minute, millions of neurons die. “Once that happens, there is no going back, even with physiotherapy and medications.”
Symptoms are a sudden weakness in the arms or legs or speech difficulty. A lesser known symptom, he says, is double vision, which could be subtle but more lethal.
Diabetes and hypertension are known co-morbidities of stroke, but the silent killer is lack of proper sleep, says Dr Karthikeyan. “Sleep regulates blood pressure. But people sleep later and sleep less. Strokes can be prevented by ensuring six to eight hours of sleep at night and addressing risk factors such as a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits and smoking and alcohol consumption.”
