As the name suggests, a stroke or acute brain disorder occurs all of a sudden irrespective of the age and gender of an individual. The most horrifying statistic is that one in six persons in the world will suffer a stroke in their lifetime. Moreover, one person dies from a stroke in every six seconds in the globe. The stroke is the third largest killer (after heart attack and cancer) in India.

“Many patients die on their way to the hospital as the common people have very limited knowledge on strokes. The relatives of the patients take a longer time to recognize a stroke and that way the golden period (immediate first three hours after the stroke) is lost. Otherwise, 70% of patients can be treated and the patients can go back to their work after treatment,” said the neurologist.

According to the physicians’ language, a stroke (also known as brain attack) occurs due to the impairment of blood supply to a part of the brain thus reducing or preventing oxygen and nutrient supply. It leads to sudden brain dysfunction and results in sudden neurological deficit. The severity of a stroke depends on the extent of brain damage and the location on the brain where the damage has occurred. Strokes can be classified into two types: one caused by a blockage of a brain blood vessel and the second by the rupture of these blood vessels.

The immediate symptoms of patients will be sudden feeling of weakness, blurring of vision, difficulty to walk and speak, sudden confusion, loss of balance, severe headache, vertigo, vomiting etc. There may also be a mild stroke, which an individual suffers for some hours. The mini stroke has all the symptoms of a stroke but those may disappear in 24 hours. However, this should not be ignored as a mild stroke can be a warning of an imminent major stroke.

It is mentionable that strokes claim nearly six million lives annually in the world. The WHO estimates that 80% stroke cases in the globe will occur in low and middle income countries including India in the coming days. The populous country (over one billion) records over 1.7 million stroke cases annually where 30 per cent succumb to brain disorder and with many of the survivors having to lead a disabled life. India is apprehended to report over 1.5 million cases of stroke annually by 2015.

Dr. Borah highlighted some risk factors leading to stroke that include high blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar with the habit of smoking, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity etc. Also, the risk of suffering a stroke rises with age. Various studies confirm that males are more prone to strokes than females. A family history of strokes should not be ignored.

Though the blockage of a brain blood vessel is the most frequent cause of stroke and it is responsible for nearly 80% of the cases, the people of North East India mostly suffer from rupture of blood vessels, which is very dangerous, Dr. Borah disclosed. The soft spoken physician, who has treated nearly 25000 stroke patients in GNRC Hospitals till date, however admitted that no particular reason is yet to be attributed for this phenomenon.

Dr. Borah had interacted with journalists at Guwahati Press Club on October 29th on the occasion of World Stroke Day. It was actually a health check-up camp for journalists which was organized by GNRC Hospitals. Over a hundred journalists participated in the health camp, which was inaugurated by the eminent Assamese film and theatre personality Pranjal Saikia, where over 20 per cent of the participants were diagnosed with hypertension and around 10 per cent were detected with high sugar content in blood and they were advised to go in for further course of treatment.

The attending doctors Dr. Amit Ranjan Baruah and Dr. Aparajita Barman informed that the stressful life and irregular food routine that are part and parcel of the profession may make the media persons vulnerable to hearth attack and stroke. Shockingly most the journalists of Assam do not enjoy health insurance facilities. Their salary and other benefits are also reported to be low when compared to other professionals.  At the same time, the Assam Government too does not have any clear cut policy to support the journalists in the time of medical related crisis.

Dr. Borah appealed to the media to play a significant role in sensitizing the common people about the risk factors of stroke and argues that the journalists thus can help in preventing or reducing the loss of many precious lives and post-stroke disabilities. He also believes that the media can propagate the message of healthy lifestyle and food habits that can save thousands of families which have been ruined by this deadly illness.