Anyone, at any age, and at any time, can have a stroke. National Stroke Week is observed in South Africa from 28 October to 3 November to increase public awareness of stroke symptoms.

A stroke is a disruption in the blood supply to the brain and can cause brain cell damage by depriving the brain of oxygen and nutrients. It can lead to various physical, cognitive, and emotional impairments.

There are two different types of stroke. Picture: covenanthealth.com.

“A stroke is a brain attack, it is a very serious condition and can be caused by a few known and unknown reasons.”

“There are two major strokes. One is what we call an ischemic stroke when there is a blood clot lodged in the brain and it does affect the functioning of the area around the clot, which causes the cells to die. The second one is called a hemorrhagic stroke, here there is bleeding in the brain and it has a very similar effect,” said the CEO of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Professor Pamela Naidoo.

 “It is important for us as people who are around someone who is having a stroke to know the symptoms of it, because often the person who is having a stroke doesn’t realise they are having one.” 

FAST is an acronym used to notice stroke symptoms. Picture: mass.gov.

There is a quick and easy acronym called FAST to notice the signs of a stroke:

 F – Face, one side of the face droops.

 A – Arm weakness, when the person lifts both arms, one arm drifts down.

S – Speech, the person has trouble speaking, or is not making sense when speaking.

T – Time, this is very important because the person experiencing a stroke should be taken to the hospital quickly.

OFM News/Zenande Mpame corne Daphné