Strokes are beatable but do not ignore the brain

Do not ignore the brain – take care of gray cells in the same way that you take care of your heart. The message is simple and alarming: in India, the number of strokes is increasing and it is not wrong to say that it is related to lifestyle.

Two actors, Sanjay Dutt and Jackie Shroff, showed their support for the Indian neurological fraternity and spread the message that a stroke is beatable.

"In case of heart attack, it's either you are gone or you are recovering … in case of brain attack, you can be gone, you can recover and get back to normal or you become dependent for life, "said Dr. Anil P Karapurkar, senior consultant neurosurgeon at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.

"You must also take precautions and learn to perceive the signals," said Dr. Karapurkar, chairperson of the fourth annual meeting of the Society for Neurovascular Intervention (SNVICON Mumbai, 2019).

"Every 60 seconds, three Indians suffer a stroke," says Dr. Nitin Dange, badociate professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at KEM Hospital and Seth GS Medical College.

Dr. Karapurkar explained that in case of heart attack, there were nearly half a dozen basic symptoms. "There may be chest pain, shortness of breath, pain in the left shoulder and pain in the upper abdomen," he said, adding that in the case From a stroke, the symptoms may differ from the affected brain side.

He said that the easiest way was to follow the BE FAST formula – "balance, eyes, face, arm, speech, time".

"Stroke is a sudden loss of function from one part of the body … it occurs unexpectedly," he said, pointing out that if a person was suffering from problems of Balance, hoarse voice, sudden loss of object, or dizziness – the first thing to do is to rush to the hospital.

"The family or people should not waste time and rush to the hospital," he said, adding that time was important.

"The treatment can not start a home, a scanner or an MRI is needed.From 2015, we follow a protocol of CT plus angio or MRI plus angio," he said.

The neurological fraternity is also planning to launch a large program with family doctors and general practitioners. The SNVICON Mumbai 2019, which lasted three days, also featured the latest technologies used for treating stroke.