On the eve of World Stroke Day Kolkata doctors calls for urgent medical attention of brain stroke patients – Times of India

KOLKATA: A window period of 4.5 hours is very crucial for getting medical attention once a patient suffers from brain stroke. People with high blood sugar, cholesterol and high blood pressure are always more prone to having brain stroke. Earlier the probability of people having a brain stroke was 1 out of 6, which now has become 1 out of 4. On the eve of world stroke day doctors said this is mainly due to sedentary lifestyle and poor eating habits.
Dr Amitabha Ghosh, Director, Department of Neurology at Apollo Multispeciality Hospitals (AMH), Kolkata, said, “There are two kinds of brain stroke: ischaemic stroke, where blood supply to part of the brain is decreased, leading to dysfunction of the brain tissue in that area. The other one is haemorrhagic stroke, in which there is sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, ventricles, or into both. In both cases it damages the brain cells as they are deprived of blood supply.”
“However excellent treatment is now available. If treatment is initiated within definitive window period, permanent damage to brain cell can be prevented. One person out of four can have a stroke at any point of time in their life and which if untreated can lead to permanent disability or even death.” He added.
Health experts said initiating treatment within 4.5 hours of stroke is very crucial as beyond that time the damage can be permanent leading to complete paralysis or even death.
“Whenever a patient develops an ischemic stroke, every second counts as brain tissue is highly susceptible to damage due to lack of blood supply. Due to this profound amount of brain tissue damage with each passing moment, it is it is important to know the symptoms of acute ischemic stroke at the earliest and reach the nearest stroke-ready hospital,” said Dr Arijit Bose, senior emergency medicine consultant at the hospital.
With the incidence of brain stroke increasing most multispecialty hospital in Kolkata today are equipped with advanced gadgets and multi specialist medical team to treat these patients.
“Earlier stroke treatment involved only medication and physiotherapy but with the advancement of technology in healthcare now endovascular therapy even large vessel occlusion can also be addressed in cath labs,” said Dr Nirmalya Ray, Interventional Neuro-radiologist of the hospital.
Doctors said symptoms of stroke are very profound that include loss of balance, headache or dizziness, blurred vision, drooping of one side of face, arm or leg, weakness, difficulty in speaking.
Dr Surinder Singh Bhatia, DMS AMH, said, “It is easy to identify anyone having stroke and can be taken to a nearest stroke-ready centre, equipped with 24 x 7 cathlab support and team of neurologists and neuro-interventionists. While a cardiac attack can kill a patient, a brain stroke can not only kill a patient, but it can kill a family because of the disability associated with it. Hence, know about your nearest stroke-ready centre.”