NEUROLOGIST ALARMED OVER RISE IN CASES OF STROKE, ADVOCATES EARLY DIAGNOSIS

A CONSULTANT neurologist, Dr. Francis Ojini, has expressed concern over increase in incidences of stroke among middle-aged and young people in the society.

Ojini told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Saturday in Lagos that though there are no available statistics of cases, the increasing number of young people with hypertension is worrisome.

He said that stroke, which used to be seen as an illness common to the elderly, is currently afflicting the young.

“Many of our hypertensive patients now are the young and middle-aged, and there are other risk factors that can cause hypertension in the young. Change to a western diet has given rise to increase in the prevalence of diabetes; so, these too, will act as risk factors for stroke in the young.

“We also know that some genetic factors can play a role in causing stroke in the relatively young, and people who have sickle cell disease can also have stroke,” he said.

The consultant noted that recent studies have shown that HIV could be a risk factor for stroke, especially in the young: “In fact, if a young person suffers a stroke, one of the investigations would be HIV screening. So, we are beginning to see young patients who have stroke and who test positive for HIV.”

The neurologist said hypertension is prevalent among many people in the country who are unaware of the condition.

He said that prevention against stroke is a better option for people in Nigeria because management of the condition is a challenge. He also advised them to acquire information about risk factors to serve as preventive measure.

“Diet is important, cut down on salt, avoid much of junk food, go back to meals we had in the past, and do exercises. The primary thing is that people should check their blood pressure regularly. Also, people need to be aware of the signs and report to the hospital once they have these signs,” he said.

He said the acronym: F.A.S.T, was conceived to represent symptoms. F- represents drooping face; A- represents weakness of the arm, S- slurred speech, and T- urgency to report to the hospital.

Ojini appealed to the Federal Government to make funds available to facilitate research with a view to obtaining data on prevalence of stroke in the country.

“Another challenge is the affordability of a brain scan, which is a requirement to diagnose the type of stroke a person has,” he said.

Source: Guardian