Questions & Answers about Stroke

1. My BP is always reported to be 150/100 mmHg .I am at age 45, a mother of two. Is it normal? Do I start any medication and which one is appropriate?

Answer: BP is too broad an issue to discuss here but as a guide, a normal BP is relative, however the bottom figure called diastolic should be the watchful value.100 is a border line, but you could not be declared hypertensive by just one BP value. Also many psychosocial factors could affect your overall BP value.

Advice: Please consistently take your BP over a period and show the results to your physician who could advise you on the most appropriate medication upon further investigation. Avoid self-medication please! It is a dangerous practice especially in a case like hypertension

2. My mum had a stroke attack at age 69.i am 39 years old and feeling very worried having seen my 15 year old daughter suffer a recent stroke attack.am I also at risk of an attack?

Answer: It might be possible. This is not to scare you.it is just impossible to predict what age you could have one your physician must alert you on the main factor that caused your daughter’s attack. Knowing that could offer you some sort of information on how to live a healthy or cautious life to avoid one. I wish your daughter well. I hope she is undergoing a comprehensive rehabilitation.do call me if you could for me to see how she is progressing on her rehabilitation.

Advice: Please see your physician for thorough discussion on the medical records of your mum and daughter in the light of your familial risk.

3. I am diabetic and on regular medication. I even use prescribed Viagra for about 2 years now.do I have a higher risk of a stroke attack?

Answer: If all other risk factors are eliminated, you are not susceptible to an attack considering the fact that you are on regular checkup for the diabetes.

Advice: However please discuss your fears with your doctor, also keep a scheduled daily routine aerobic exercises regularly

May I pause briefly to proffer a little suggestion. If you critically follow the counsel on the various challenges posed here, one trend remains dominant, i.e ‘asking for information’. The era of silence is long gone without ever longing for its return. Your right as a patient is to demand information and it is your inalienable right to know what is wrong with you once you have contracted the hospital (upon consent) to help you.

4. I hear left sided stroke (weakness) is more dangerous than right sided stroke. How truthful is that?

Answer: There is no truth in it. If the fear is in connection with the heart, there is no cause for alarm. The truth is stroke affects mostly skeletal muscles of which the heart is not part. Otherwise the severity of a stroke attack is mostly in association with the site and extent of brain damage, other existing disease conditions, family support, among other factors

Fact: Most people (about 80) with a severe right sided weakness do lose their speech. Some do recover their speech over a period, others don’t. It’s hard to tell unless you consult a speech therapist.

5. Could my left sided weakness or stroke affect my heart?

Answer: No

Fact: stroke doesn’t affect heart muscles but rather large and small muscles that are under the willful control of the human.

6. How long does it take to recover (from the physical and functional challenges) after a stroke attack?

Answers: Studies postulate that most functional recovery after a stroke attack occurs within the first 4 months. Others with a 1 or 2 year old stroke could also benefit from rehabilitation depending on the challenges they present to the facility. The underlying damage in the brain reorganizers itself with medication over a period of time, specifically, it is hard to tell.

Advice: Please contact your physiotherapist for further appointment.

7. I exercise regularly, have not reported ill at a hospital before and eat healthily (I follow a strict diet by a nutritionist) but why then did I suffer a stroke attack? I am just 43 years

ANSWER: Stroke is not caused by one particular factor. It could be likely that you had a predisposing factor which leaves you with a high propensity for an attack. Unfortunately you could not identify it. All those you mentioned seemed like a perfectly healthy lifestyle though.

Advice: I would plead with you to remain calm. Do not play the blame game. Stop pointing accusing fingers upon the ‘revelation’ of any of the so called spiritual/religious persons. Accept the condition. Focus on how to overcome it and get your mind prepared for rehabilitation. Be ready also for an adjustment of your lifestyle-but live normally anyway!

8. I am afraid my stroke would make me stay in a wheel chair forever! Is my fear a fact?

Answer: Not at all!

Fact: You could always get back your life after stroke once you go through a carefully planned rehabilitation after discharge from the hospital. Your co-operating with the team members is however very important.

9. Could my stroke at age 49 be a spiritual attack since I am really not that ‘cool’ with my work partners/colleagues? I’m suspecting a foul play on their part.

Answer: Sorry! I could hardly believe this. I see just mere physical things, which indeed is the essence for which I was made a physical being. My foresight or vision or aspirations in my life are what I pursue and they are the things that pose real challenges to me, not any unknown world in the metaphysical world. Pardon me; i am pretty lame on issues of this sort. But I focus on the known things in life.