3 Indians suffer a stroke every min, don’t know it

Three adults suffer from a stroke every minute in India and around 5 million people are disabled globally due to the brain attack each year. Yet, half the residents of metros in India are unaware of strokes and their link to the brain. A survey carried out across six metros in the country has revealed that awareness of a stroke is abysmally low. More shocking is the fact that increasingly younger people are becoming vulnerable to strokes, reasons for which vary from lifestyle to ignorance about the problem itself. “Most people think that stroke is related to the heart,” Dr Shirish M Hastak, neurologist and former president of the Indian Stroke Association, said. A stroke occurs when a blood vessel taking blood and oxygen to the brain gets blocked or ruptured. When this happens, brain cells don’t get the blood required. Every year 20m suffer from stroke worldwide Hyderabad & Delhi Have The Lowest Levels Of Awareness Mumbai: Deprived of oxygen, nerve cells stop working and die within minutes, so the part of the body they control can’t function either. “It is extremely difficult for a person to seek immediate medical help if one does not even know about a problem,” Dr Hastak said. The survey covered 1,507 people aged between 25 and 50 years in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. It mainly captured the respondents’ awareness and understanding of the term stroke, its symptoms, perceived causes, the prevailing knowledge about treatment options, and their experiences with stroke sufferers. Worldwide, 20 million people suffer from stroke each year, five million die and another five million are disabled. It is estimated that one in six people will suffer a stroke in their lifetime. In India, 1.5 million suffer from stroke every year and 3,000 to 4,000 are affected each day. According to the survey, 48% of people did not even know what stroke meant. “Bangalore scored fairly well with 68% being aware of what a brain stroke is. Mumbai’s performance was average with 58% aware that stroke is associated with the brain. The two cities were followed by Kolkata. Delhi and Hyderabad had the lowest levels of awareness, with 36% and 27% respectively,” said Dr Hastak. A trend evident in the survey was that the younger population is becoming vulnerable to strokes. Doctors maintained that a lot had to do with their lifestyle, work culture and eating habits. “First, we need to look at what bracket of age we can define as young. I’ve observed an increase of about 15-20% in the age group of 25-40 reporting a stroke or at least unmistakable symptoms of it,” said Dr P P Ashok, head of neurology, Hinduja Hospital.
1 IN 6 DIES OF STROKE IN LIFETIME 
WORLD STATS 20million people suffer from stroke every year. It causes five million deaths 5million people are rendered disabled because of stroke One in six persons gets a stroke in his/her lifetime
INDIA STATS
 1.5million people suffer from strokes every year 3,000-4,000 Indians suffer from stroke every day Strokes cause more deaths in the country than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV combined