BENGALURU: With hospitals seeing a 20-30 per cent rise in the incidence of stroke among the younger age groups, doctors highlighted the need for providing treatment and aftercare to stroke patients as they are more prone to long-term health issues.
Stroke specialist Dr Vikram Huded, Clinical Lead and Director of interventional Neurology, at Narayana Health, said, “Incidence of stroke in general has increased in India affecting one in four people. Since a few years, instances of stroke in young people are also rising with around 20-30 per cent getting affected.”
Changes in lifestyle, stress, poor diet and no exercise leading to a rise in obesity and high blood pressure have resulted in a high incidence of stroke patients, now affecting citizens between the 30-40 age group.
Doctors highlighted the need for providing treatment during the ‘golden hour’ or ensuring that a person is thrombolysed within a few hours to ensure the risk of suffering from long-term health impact is reduced. Despite having facilities to perform thrombolysis and thrombectomy, the number of people availing benefit from these is much lesser.
Only 2-3 per cent might undergo thrombolysis and only 3,000-4,000 thrombectomies are done yearly across India, they said. In 60-70 per cent of cases, people suffering from a severe stroke are more prone to developing long-term health issues.
Ahead of World Stroke Day, observed on Oct 29, Dr GT Subhas, president, of Bangalore Stroke Support Group, said it is crucial to support people suffering from stroke along with their caregivers. Doctors are often seen focusing on the immediate treatment and end up ignoring the long-term implications. The stroke support group in the city has helped around 200 patients, with necessary care and guidance for stroke-related issues.