This week, wearing my medical writer hat for a report I’m writing, I have talked to a lot of doctors about preventing stroke. The statistics are frightening. The following may scare you – it did me. There are more than 100,000 strokes in the UK each year. Around a quarter of strokes happen in people of working age. Stroke is the fourth biggest killer in the UK (7% of all deaths), causing more deaths in women than breast cancer. For men, stroke causes more deaths that testicular and prostate cancer combined. More than two-thirds of stroke survivors leave hospital with a continuing disability and are unable to work.
Age is the single-most important risk factor for preventing stroke and older people should lead a healthier lifestyle for good reason. The risk of having a stroke doubles every decade after the age of 55.
One in every 53 people in the UK is a stroke survivor
Not scared enough? You should be. One stroke unit consultant told me “sometimes the worst thing is that the disabled stroke survivor will most likely live on for 20 to 30 years with disability and this is a major cause of family and social problems”.
Preventing Strokes: What to do
If you are scared, good. I am as well as I’m 52 years old. Remember that 70-80% of strokes are preventable by modifying your risk factors. Things you can do:
- Get your blood pressure checked, especially if you are 40-50 years old. If it is raised get it treated (also get the doctor to check your pulse in case you have atrial fibrillation – a clot risk)
- If you smoke – stop
- Get more exercise
- Lose weight
- Eat healthier. Increase your intake of fruit and veg and eat less fatty food
- Cut down on alcohol
- Try to reduce stress
Preventing stroke is a priority as more than £4.3 billion is spent on stroke treatment in the UK every year and stroke costs the country £9 billion a year overall.
So eat your five a day (or even 10 a day if you can manage it), walk to the shops or to work, get a health MOT and give up the fags. Forgetting the cost and the ‘greater good’ that is our NHS, be selfish, you don’t want a stroke and neither do any of your family – take action in preventing stroke NOW! For further information visit the Stroke Association here.
