March 2017 www.womanthismonth.com LIFESTYLE | wellbeing 42 Sarah was going about her regular chores when she felt one side of her body go weak and numb. She tried to steady herself, but maintaining her balance felt impossible. As the dizziness took over, she plopped down on the floor, her vision blurred. She could faintly hear the panic in her daughter’s voice, but could not fully comprehend what she was being told, or articulate what she was feeling. She felt herself slipping into unconsciousness. Sarah had just suffered a stroke. What does this mean? Strokes affect a significant percentage of men and women the world over. Dr Ram Vatwani, consultant neurologist, tells us more. “A stroke is a break to the blood flow in the brain. The function of that part of the brain which experiences insufficient blood flow is affected,” he says. A stroke is like a heart attack, but in the brain.The heart pumps oxygen and nutrient-rich blood to all parts of the body. This blood is transported via a complex system of blood vessels. When there is a block or a break in a vessel, clean blood does not reach a particular area of the We know (the basics) about a heart attack, but did you know the brain can also be ‘attacked’? Behnaz Sanjana brings you some grassroots information about strokes, which affect 15 million people worldwide every year. When a Stroke Strikes body. When this happens in the brain, it’s called a ‘stroke’. “There are two broad categories of stroke – haemorrhagic and ischaemic. The first occurs when there is a rupture in a blood vessel of the brain. It is a rare occurrence, but is more likely to be fatal,” warns our expert. “An ischaemic stroke is more common. It is when a blood clot blocks a vessel in the brain. The clot can be dissolved with medication to restore normal flow.” Patients can be left with lasting vision problems, seizures, fatigue, loss of speech and memory, and paralysis. A stroke can even be severe enough to cause death Dr Vatwani draws our attention to what is called a transient ischaemic attack, or TIA. “In this case, the difficulty in speaking and the numbness lasts a very short time, maybe a few minutes only. It can, in fact, also serve as a warning sign to the onset of a full-blown stroke in the future.” An average adult’s heart beats more than 100,000 times a day Dr Ram Vatwani
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