Allied Health Professional · Neurology ·
World Stroke Day is October 29: A Reminder Worth Repeating Stroke remains one o…
World Stroke Day is October 29: A Reminder Worth Repeating
Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability worldwide, and a large share of that burden is preventable.
A few points worth reinforcing with patients and colleagues ahead of World Stroke Day:
FAST still works: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call for emergency help. Time to treatment is one of the strongest predictors of outcome in acute ischaemic stroke.
Up to roughly 80% of strokes are preventable through control of modifiable risk factors, principally hypertension, along with atrial fibrillation management, smoking cessation, diabetes control and physical activity.
TIA is not a minor event. It carries a substantial short-term risk of a full stroke and warrants urgent work-up, not a wait-and-see approach.
If you're seeing patients this week, it's a reasonable prompt to revisit blood pressure control and AF screening in anyone with relevant risk factors, not only around the awareness date itself.