LETTERS: Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Malaysia. It is no more a disease of the elderly as its incidence is now increasing among young adults.
The crucial thing about stroke is not only its mortality (death) rate but also its morbidity (disability) rate. A stroke survivor may suffer from variable degrees of disabilities that often require short- to long-term (or even lifelong) medical and rehabilitative treatment and support.
That means the disease poses a threat to one's physical, psychological and economic status, making stroke a huge national burden.
What is a stroke? We know about heart attack — a condition that involves the heart. A stroke is a similar event, but it involves the brain ("brain attack"). In both cases, there is some problem in the respective organ's blood supply.
As such, both conditions are a kind of vascular (blood flowing vessel/channel) event — where one is cerebro-vascular (brain-vessel) while the other is cardiovascular (heart-vessel). These are among the top causes of death worldwide.
Our organs need constant food (oxygen and glucose) supply via blood to function properly. The brain, however, is more vulnerable to starvation injury as it cannot store energy. Any disruption of blood supply to it will lead to rapid brain cell damage or stroke.
A stroke patient usually develops a sudden or rapid (within minutes to an hour) onset of neurological symptoms, which last more than 24 hours and can lead to death. Hence, "minutes-counting" is important — how fast a patient can receive appropriate treatment.
Brain and heart attacks have some similarities in their disease processes, underlying causes and prevention strategies. They are lifestyle diseases and positive (evidence-based) lifestyle changes can play a vital role in preventing and managing them.
Some potential risk factors for stroke are active and passive smoking, physical inactivity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heavy alcohol consumption and high levels of lipids (fats) in the blood.
Obesity, pregnancy, oral contraceptive consumption, long working hours, shift duty, psychological stress and sleep disturbances are also contributors.
Many of these are avoidable or modifiable, and hence, motivational awareness is required to get control over them.
Every year, on Oct 29, the World Stroke Organisation observes World Stroke Day to raise awareness about the disease.
This year's campaign focuses on raising stroke symptom awareness so that people can recognise a "stroke event" quickly, which will allow them to get treatment immediately.
Patients' delay in seeking treatment worsens the prognosis. Astuteness in making diagnoses and initiating treatment is a professional challenge.
To manage stroke, a highly efficient specialised healthcare setup with multidisciplinary support is required.
Thankfully, many Malaysian hospitals have achieved global standards in stroke care services.
DR KALLYAN K. DEBNATH
Medical Education Unit
AIMST University
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times