One morning, he came home from his daily, pre-breakfast, hour-long walk, prepared himself a big bowl of muesli with a banana, strawberries and yoghurt piled on top and the next thing he remembered, he was on the ground, confused and unable to get up.
National Stroke Week is coming up – 14 to 20 September this year – and it’s a timely reminder to refresh your knowledge, have a health check and take an audit of your lifestyle.
A stroke is what happens when the blood supply to your brain is interrupted or blocked and your brain cells don’t get enough oxygen and nutrients. They die… and you can die. At the very least, you will have some level of brain damage.
Your brain controls how you move, feel, communicate, think and act; and brain injury from a stroke can affect any of these abilities. If you’re fortunate, the symptoms may be mild and you might recover well from any lost functions. But the brain damage cannot be reversed and your chances of having a second stroke are up to 10 times higher than someone who has never had one.
Stroke is pretty common – one in six of us will have one. Most of us personally know someone who has had a stroke. We may have had a stroke – or perhaps a transient ischaemic attack (a TIA or ‘mini-stroke’) – ourselves.
In fact, stroke is Australia’s second biggest killer after coronary heart disease and a leading cause of disability. It kills more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer. But at the same time, many strokes can be prevented.
Health is personal
My dad had a stroke. He had had a TIA about ten years earlier and had had surgery – we called it a ‘re-bore’ – to remove some of the plaque in his carotid artery.
At 83, he wasn’t overweight, he exercised daily, ate well and managed his own type two diabetes without insulin. But he had a strong family history of stroke and heart disease and he certainly grew up at a time when eating red meat three times a day was a privilege and cooking with lard was the norm.
One morning, he came home from his daily, pre-breakfast, hour-long walk, prepared himself a big bowl of muesli with a banana, strawberries and yoghurt piled on top and the next thing he remembered, he was on the ground, confused and unable to get up.
The symptoms of the TIA he had a decade earlier had been comparatively mild and were short term. He had been ultimately able to get up and get to the doctor that time. This was different.
While we all made herculean efforts to give him every best chance at some recovery, this time the stroke had affected dad both physically and mentally. He was severely incapacitated, unable to take his own weight, unable to determine the placement of his body in space (he would list to one side and not be aware of it) and not able to bathe or dress himself.
He died less than a year later and his experience, including his final months in an aged care facility, sent a clear message home to me and other members of my family that we all need to be stroke-aware.
Do something
This Stroke Week, the National Stroke Foundation is looking for support to challenge the impact of stroke on the community.
Because, with just a little effort on our part, so many strokes can be prevented, the big message is about minimising our risk.
There are lots of events – big and small – taking place all around the country and in many local communities. But you can help spread the message, even have your own little (or big) event!
Click on this link to see a great collection of ideas about ways to get involved – everything from hosting a healthy high tea to having an information booth, to setting up a free health check station (if you or someone you know is a registered health professional). All the details are at this link.
And you can register for your free Stroke Week kit including:
- Fun workplace and social group challenges
- Promotional posters and other items
- Educational information and tools
- Health check information
- Fundraising ideas
Go ahead! This is something we can all do!
