In Covid times, don’t overlook stroke symptoms

TNN | May 4, 2020, 07:34 IST

Ludhiana: During the ongoing pandemic of Covid-19 and the current lockdown in place, it may be easy to overlook some of the other diseases that affect us and may cause more damage in the long run in terms of disability and loss of working days.
Among them is acute stroke which can be devastating if treatment is delayed or denied. Dr Anirudh Kulkarni, assistant professor in neurology, who has done fellowship in neurointervention, stated that stroke or brain attack was the leading cause of death and disability. “Early treatment of stroke is of paramount importance as it can reduce the disability associated with stroke,” he said.
Recent advances in stroke treatment have introduced newer treatments like removal of the clots that block the blood supply to brain by using special stents called clot retrievals. These treatments are only available at the neuro cathlab at the CMC & Hospital, Ludhiana.
Dr Jeyaraj D Pandian, professor of neurology and vice-president of World Stroke Organisation, mentioned that with the current ongoing pandemic it might be easy for the patients to not notice or ignore minor symptoms of stroke, which could have negative impact on the outcomes. Dr Pandian said some patients might fear coming to the hospital due to the risk of contracting coronavirus. However, the hospital has made necessary arrangements to screen and isolate patients with the coronavirus infection and reduce the risk of cross infection, he added.
Dr Rajeswar, assistant professor of neurology, said special arrangements were in place for stroke patients for rapid screening and triage of patients so that the delay of going through Covid screening was reduced. Patients must reach the CMC as early as possible ( between 0-9 hours) for clot bursting injection. However, with the newer facility clots can be pulled out from brain arteries using stent retriever till 24 hours.
Dr Kulkarni stated that new technology is available in only select premier institutes in north-west India. He added that clot removal treatment using stent had a better outcome as compared to many other acute treatments for stroke. Dr Vineeth Jaison, associate professor of neurology, mentioned that the acute stroke care in CMC was being offered with the same urgency and passion during the times of this epidemic, for which it was known in the region.
Dr Ivy Sebastian, assistant professor, stated that during this pandemic patient with high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol needs to take the medications regularly in order to prevent a stroke. These patients are also at higher risk of getting severe Covid-19 infection, hence it is very important to take medications.
Dr William Bhatti lauded the efforts of department of neurology in continuing to strive to fight and educate the people about acute stroke treatment in this current period of lockdown and pandemic. He also lauded the efforts of Dr Pandian in getting residents of the city donate for a fund that will be utilised for offering stroke treatment for poor and needy of society.
Stroke warning symptoms:
• Sudden weakness in one side of the body
• Numbness in one side of the body
• Difficulty in speaking and understanding
• Sudden imbalance, giddiness and unconsciousness
• Onset of headache