Chennai: “Every minute after stroke, a human body loses about 1.9 million neurons and 13.8 million synapses. The patient ages by 3.6 years every hour following the attack. Of late, the patient population comprises of large number of youngsters, though the medical literature do not do justice,” said Apollo Hospitals Vanagaram neurology consultant, Dr Prabash.
He was speaking during the launch of a hotline service that caters to various neighborhood communities around the hospital for stroke and other emergency treatment.
Addressing mediapersons here Wednesday, Prabash said, “Stroke is the second leading cause of death or disability after ischemic heart disease. However, the awareness has been abysmally low in India. The treatment has undergone a ‘paradigmatic shift’ in the past decade. Thrombolysis or thrombectomy procedures have improved in the last four years and the cost has come down. While thrombolysis should be given within 4.5 hours of stroke attack, the window period of thrombectomy is six hours and has been extended up to 24 hours in selected patients. People should immediately rush with the patient to a ‘stroke-ready’ hospital.”
A 40-year-old lawyer, producer and stock broker, Deepak Kumar Nair, who was recently treated for stroke, said, “I had severe headache on the right side for 15 days and the left hand was losing sensation. The preliminary nerve test did not detect stroke, however, the scan reports revealed the condition. Without any delay, I underwent the procedure.”
Although the common causes are attributed to smoking, drinking, diabetes and hypertension, Deepak stated, “I have been fit and fine; however, work-related stress led to stroke.”
Apollo Hospitals emergency medicine head, Dr Dhavapalani said, “Majority of them consider stroke as less-deadly, however, if medical intervention is not given immediately, they may die immediately. The treatment is not the same as it was before and has undergone a humongous shift.”