Young people in retirement homes after a stroke, it is possible

Every year, more than 140,000 people in France are stricken by a stroke. 3rd cause of death in France with 60 000 deaths per year, the stroke is all the more pernicious that it can hit anyone, at any time, without any harbinger has been detected.

On October 29th, World Stroke Day, the French Society for Neuro-Vascular Disease (SFCV) is mobilizing to alert the population through a new awareness campaign. Called "All Concerned", she wishes to recall that, contrary to popular belief, seniors are not the only victims of stroke but that young adults, and even children, can be hit.

"The management of stroke has evolved considerably over the last few years, and health care providers must now ensure that individuals do not become sick. Through this new campaign, we wish to remind that stroke is everyone's business: children, young people, adults, seniors, it is never too early or too late to prevent stroke, "says Professor Serge Timsit, President of the SFNV and Head of the Neurology Department at CHU Brest.

Warning signs to know

Stroke occurs when blood flow to or into the brain is interrupted by a clogged blood vessel (71% of strokes are ischemic strokes), or when rupture of a blood vessel causes bleeding (25% are hemorrhagic strokes or meningeal haemorrhage) occurs in the brain. The consequences can be dramatic with brain cells that are destroyed or that no longer receive the oxygen and glucose they need to function normally.

Stroke is an absolute medical emergency, which requires immediate management by calling 15. The problem is that few people recognize the warning signs of a stroke. They exist, however. The goal of this new campaign is also to raise awareness among the population to better detect these symptoms.

Among those who must immediately alert, there is the sudden onset of a slurred speech, numbness or paralysis of an arm, a leg or a half of the face, a vision disorder or amputation vision usually with one eye, as well as dizziness, vertigo and loss of balance.

Women, children and young people, also concerned

The other need, on this World Stroke Day, is the sensitization of populations at risk but who do not always feel concerned. Among them, young women, who represent 54% of people who die of stroke and are affected by risk factors of their own: the combination pill, smoking and migraine with aura that increases the risk of stroke, but also periods of risk such as pregnancy, menopause and hormone replacement therapy, depression and psycho-social stress to which women are more exposed than men.

In children under 18 years, strokes remain rare (less than 1%) but are also misdiagnosed. Young adults, meanwhile, are experiencing a rise in cases with risk factors that tend to increase as early as age 35: poor diet, tobacco, sedentary lifestyle, genetic predisposition, heart problem and high blood pressure, which is the main risk factor. "On this last point, young people are at risk and they do not always think to check their tension", stresses at the Luxembourg site L'Essentiel Chantal Keller, president of ASBL Blëtz (Luxemburg Association of the concerned of a brain injury ). "Currently, young people find themselves in retirement home after a stroke because we do not know where to place them, "she adds.

In addition, new socio-environmental factors are confirming and probably predicting an increase in stroke for the years to come. Among them, drug use, air pollution, but also increased cases of diabetes and obesity. Fortunately, it is possible to change one's lifestyle and get involved as soon as possible in the fight against stroke, says this new awareness campaign, which reminds you that to control your blood pressure and your cholesterol, to eat healthy, to have an activity sports (30 minutes walk per day) and quit smoking reduces by 80% stroke risk.

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