Stroke Awareness Month (May)

Posted on May 4th, 2018

There are different types of strokes, and people have strokes for many different reasons.

Ischaemic strokes are the most common (around 85% of all stokes are diagnosed as ischaemic). They occur when a blood clot prevents oxygen from reaching the brain.

Haemorrhagic strokes occur when a blood vessel within the skull bursts, causing bleeding in and around the brain.

Transient Ischaemic Attack or “mini-stroke” is a temporary disruption of the oxygen-rich blood supply to the brain. TIA’s often last a few minutes or hours and symptoms will resolve fully within 24 hours. These should still be treated as a medical emergency, and action should be taken to reduce your risk of having a stroke.

Symptoms

There are certain signs you should look out for, as well as the FAST symptoms which are noted at the top of this page. These symptoms will occur suddenly and unexpectedly:

• Complete paralysis of one side
• Sudden loss of, or blurred vision
• Dizziness
• Confusion or difficulty understanding people
• Balance and co-ordination problems
• Difficulty swallowing
• Severe headache/blinding head pain
• Loss of consciousness

Statistics

• Worldwide, a stroke occurs every 2 seconds, and kills one person every 5 seconds.
• There are over 100,000 stokes in the UK each year. This is equivalent to one stroke every five minutes.
• Around 30% of people who have previously had a stroke will go on to have another.
• 1/6 men and 1/5 women will have a stroke in their lifetime.
• 38% of first time strokes occur in people aged between 40-69.
• Over 400 children have strokes each year in the UK. (75% of these children are under 10 years old).
• There are over 1.2million stroke survivors alive today.
• 1.9 million nerve cells in the brain are lost every minute a stroke is left untreated.

Prevention

There are lifestyle changes that can be made to reduce your risk of having a stroke. These include but are not limited to:

• Maintain a healthy weight
• Stop smoking
• Ensure your blood pressure is appropriately controlled
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet
• Good diabetes control and being regularly reviewed
• Reducing alcohol intake

NHS health checks are available every 5 years to patients aged 40 – 74 years old. They are designed to help identify if you are at early risk of a stroke or other health condition such as; type 2 diabetes, dementia, heart disease or kidney disease. The aim of an NHS health check is to reduce this risk.

Public Health England have released a nationwide programme called “One You”. It is designed to help you make small changes that can have a huge influence on your health. The website has features such as a “Heart Age Test” which helps calculate your potential risk of having a heart attack or stroke, and enables you to take early action. For more information visit https://nhs.uk/oneyou

Sources:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stroke/symptoms/

https://www.stroke.org.uk/resources/state-nation-stroke-statistics?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIkN7tlIDn2gIVS7TtCh31dw4vEAAYASAAEgIAyvD_BwE

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-figures-show-larger-proportion-of-strokes-in-the-middle-aged

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/transient-ischaemic-attack-tia/