Around a hundred thousand people have a stroke every year in the UK. That’s according to national statistics from the Stroke Association who hope to raise awareness of the condition in preparation for World Stroke Day which is an annual event which occurs on the 29th October. If somebody suffers a stroke, every second matters if you want to save that person’s quality of life. As soon as a stroke occurs, brain tissue and millions of neurons begin to fade away. They can only be saved with quick access to emergency medical care.

There are many different symptoms to look out for if you suspect someone may have had a stroke. These include:

Face- the face may have dropped on 1 side, the person may not be able to smile, or their mouth or eye may have dropped.

Arms- the person with suspected stroke may not be able to lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in 1 arm.

Speech- their speech may be slurred or garbled, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake; they may also have problems understanding what you’re saying to them.

Time- it’s time to dial 999 immediately if you see any of these signs or symptoms.

If you spot anyone experiencing any of these symptoms, it is extremely important to get them emergency medical care as soon as possible to ensure that as much of that person’s lifestyle and characteristics can be saved.

It is quite interesting that the first letters of each of the words when put together spell out the word FAST to remind people of what to do and how urgently medical care and assistance is needed for that person.

There are two main causes which can make people have a stroke. Similar to other organs, the brain needs the oxygen and nutrients that get transported through it via the blood stream. If the blood supply is restricted in any way, this can cause brain cells to die. This can lead to brain injury, disability and possibly death.

There are two main reasons which can cause people to have a stroke. These include:

There are 2 main causes of strokes:

ischaemic- where the blood supply is stopped because of a blood clot, accounting for 85% of all cases

haemorrhagic- where a weakened blood vessel supplying the brain bursts

The treatment that someone will need after they have had a stroke depends on the kind of stroke they have as different parts of the brain can be affected which are linked to different parts of the body. In some cases, surgery may be required to remove blood clots from the brain.

As part of this year’s campaign, the World Stroke Organisation has a number of tools on it’s web site to help people get involved in the campaign. This includes a number of tool kits which contain guides, banners, logos and posters which people can download and add to their professional web sites and different social media platforms to help spread the message and inform other people on what to do and look out for if they are in a situation where someone is having a stroke.

There are also a number of events which are being arranged round the world to help spread the message and raise awareness. People are being encourage to hold community events in which they can help put stroke on the map, although this may be a little bit more difficult nowadays due to cases of Covid 19 beginning to rise again and the possibility of more restrictions being brought in including social distancing.

If you’d like to find out more information about stroke and possible ideas of how you can mark World Stroke Day, please visit WSO | World Stroke Organization (world-stroke.org)