Canada also has trouble with time

The current theme of this blog revolves around getting help and getting help fast if you see any stroke signs or symptoms.

And that means any sign.

This research helps show that need is not United States-specific. I bolded the last item on a longer list of findings, emphasizing the need to be sure to get help quickly. Research in Canada, too, shows that stroke victims wait too long for treatment:

Stroke victims arriving at Canadian hospitals aren't being treated quickly enough, creating "unacceptable" delays that are increasing the risk of irreversible and devastating brain damage, according to a major new study.

The finding is part of the wider problem, highlighted in the study, that strokes aren't being treated like the medical emergencies they are by the tens of thousands of Canadians who suffer them each year.

It's based on a national review of hospital records and data representing more than 38,000 patients admitted with stroke across the country in 2008-09.

The audit by the Canadian Stroke Network, the first of its kind in this country, found: ...

- 39 per cent of all patients arrived at the hospital more than 12 hours after their first symptom of a stroke; ...

'Time is brain'

The next few weeks, we'll focus on time. All too often, people wait to seek help when a stroke occurs. It's vitally important to get a stroke patient help as soon as possible. The quicker the person gets to a stroke center, the better choices of treatment.

Here's a note from Kansas City:

'Time is brain' remains stroke mantra:

...[Kathleen] Henderson [RN, MN, ACNF, LNC] wants everyone to know the warning signs and importance of getting immediate help.

“Stroke is one of those time-critical diagnoses,” she said. “It’s similar to a heart attack. The faster you get help the better your outcomes may be.”

Henderson said any of the following signs merits an immediate phone call to 911:

• sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body;
• sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech;
• sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes;
• sudden dizziness or loss of balance or coordination;
• sudden severe headache with no known cause.

Getting treatment within 60 minutes of the onset of symptoms can prevent disability, Henderson said.

Now, one of my "mantras" is that the last item about the "sudden severe headache" does not mean that no headache means no stroke. I never had a headache with my stroke. Most people I have spoken to didn't have a headache.

So think about the symptoms like this: If you see one of these symptoms, get some help. Fast.

A 'taste' of stroke prevention

Taking care of  your mouth is more than pretty teeth. More and more, it's clear that oral health affects overall health:

Though the research is still in its early stages, there is mounting evidence of a link between gum disease (periodontitis) and overall health, including an increased risk for heart disease, stroke, and maybe even pre-term birth.

"The links are still not enormously strong," says Dr. Paul Reggiardo, a pediatric dentist in Huntington Beach, Calif. "What they are right now are tantalizing."

For instance, a 2008 consensus report in the Journal of Clinical Periodontology concluded that periodontitis — in which the tissues surrounding the teeth are inflamed and infected, leading to progressive bone loss and ultimately loss of teeth — "may contribute to cardiovascular events and stroke in susceptible subjects."

'Your right hand upholds me'

On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.

-Psalm 63:6-8

"Right hand."

I remember the day, as if were just yesterday, when my own right hand wouldn't move. Had no feeling. Was useless.

Yet today, my right hand is typing. Last night, my right hand helped with routine work installing an electrical outlet and light switch. My right hand turns a steering wheel, carries groceries and does thousands of other day-to-day tasks.

The Psalm passage above, referencing the right hand of God, made me think of my own right hand and what happened to it. I thought of it this way: When my own right hand was useless, God's right hand upheld me.

Stroke is the most common reason for permanent disability, including the disability of the human hand. That's one reason why it's so important to work on stroke prevention, recognizing symptoms and know what action to take when you see those signs. Will everyone regain complete use of a hand? No. Will everyone rely on God's right hand, as the Psalmist described God's power? Yes.

(Image using photo by woodley wonderworks, via Wikimedia Commons; text added)

Olive oil linked to stroke prevention?

Interesting research reported - maybe something to consider in your own diet...

Olive oil linked to reduced stroke risk:

In the new study, seniors who regularly used this healthy monounsaturated fat had a 41% lower risk of stroke compared to their counterparts who never used olive oil.

“This is the first study to suggest that greater consumption of olive oil may lower risk of stroke in older subjects, independently of other beneficial foods found in the Mediterranean diet,” study author Cecilia Samieri, PhD, with the University of Bordeaux and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Bordeaux, France, says in an email.

Encouraging news about preventing second strokes

If you've had a stroke, or know someone whose lived through one, you know that a second stroke can carry serious danger.

So using statins - drugs normally used to control cholesterol - might help, according to an article about research on statins preventing second strokes in high-risk groups:

Statins reduce recurrent stroke risk in patients with type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome despite the higher risk of cardiovascular events and recurrent stroke in these populations, researchers found.

As always, consult your doctor - be an advocate.
 

Exercise and stroke prevention

Prevent a stroke - and you can save your life.

For the next few weeks, I want to focus on news and ideas on stroke prevention. Here's one that we can all take advantage of - a WebMD story on how moderate exercise may cut risk of "silent" stroke

People who reported engaging in moderate to intense exercise were 40% less likely to have the lesions than people who did not exercise at all, even after the researchers took into account other stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Regular light exercise, such as golf, walking, bowling, or dancing did not appear to decrease the risk for silent stroke, but study researcher and stroke specialist Joshua Willey, MD, says these activities clearly benefit health.

Willey is an assistant professor of neurology at Columbia University.

"I would not want these findings to discourage people from walking or performing other light exercise," he tells WebMD. "But it may be that a certain level of exercise frequency and intensity is needed to lower silent stroke risk."

Canada and stroke awareness

While Stroke Awareness Month in the United States was in May, our northern neighbor marks Stroke Awareness Month in June, according to CTV News:

June is Stroke Awareness Month across Canada. Strokes are the leading cause of adult disability and the third leading cause of death in Saskatchewan. That's why the Heart and Stroke Foundation is spending this upcoming month urging Saskatchewan residents, especially women, to educate themselves about the prevention and warning signs of stroke.

Despite all the efforts of government agencies, nonprofits and others, many people are not aware of stroke signs and symptoms, and what to do if someone is having a stroke. Awareness has a long way to go.

Yoga and balance

Personally, I'm not into yoga. Then again, maybe I should be. My own stroke didn't leave me with balance issues, but that is a very common occurrence. Stroke is the leading cause of permanent disability, and often, balance is affected.
 

WebMD recently reported that yoga may improve balance of stroke patients:

The study shows stroke survivors who participated in a specialized post-stroke yoga class improved their balance by up to 34%.

Researchers say the participants also experienced a big boost in their own self-confidence after their yoga practice and became more physically active in their communities.

"It also was interesting to see how much the men liked it," says researcher Arlene A. Schmid, assistant professor of occupational therapy in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, in a news release.

Treatment better - but improvement needed

As a tPA recipient in 1998 - I live the value of this treatment every day. It must be used properly, of course, but it is used far less than it should be used. The latest...

More stroke patients get clot-busting drug but barriers remain:

Acute ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot cuts off blood supply to the brain. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the only thrombolytic (clot-dissolving) drug approved to treat this type of stroke in the United States, and it can stave off death and lasting disability, but only if it is administered within 3 to 4.5 hours of stroke onset.

"Overall, tPA treatment rates are improving, but the proportion of ischemic stroke patients receiving the therapy remains very small," said study author Dr. Opeolu Adeoye, an assistant professor of emergency medicine and neurosurgery at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. "The delayed hospital arrival in the majority of stroke patients is probably the most important factor contributing to low treatment rates."

The findings are published June 2 in the journal Stroke.