Stroke is a medical emergency caused by lack of blood flow to part of the brain eventually causing brain damage. These strokes that originally used to be seen in very aged people are now occurring in the productive work group of people who are actively working.
In Ghana, the rate of stroke among people below the age of 50 according to stakeholders is increasing. Stroke among young adults has devastating consequences, because of the longer-lasting impact of stroke-related disability on the quality of life of the affected person and the stress on a patient’s family.
The SIREN (Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network) is a multicenter, case-control study involving 15 sites in Nigeria and Ghana. Cases included adults aged 18 years and above with computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed stroke.
The acting Programme Manager of Non-Communicable Diseases of the Ghana Health Service, Dr Efua Commeh as part of the commemoration of the day spoke to Daily Graphic’s Augustina Tawiah on hypertension in Ghana and why it is important for people to measure their blood pressure.
Dr. Commeh said stress was chiefly responsible for the recent stroke cases among young people in the country, adding that most young people in Ghana were stressed out. Some of them, it is pressure from school, pressure from work, pressure from the home, and pressure everywhere; and on top of these stresses, closing quite late from work and getting home late before eating at night.
At that time of the night, you are not going to get any appropriate food to eat. You end up taking fast foods, and these, among others, contribute to making us unhealthy, and they are the things that can give us hypertension,” she explained.
Hypertension is a major contributor to health complications like stroke, heart attacks, and kidney diseases, among others. Stroke constitutes a considerable cause of morbidity and mortality in Ghana. Major efforts are urgently needed to prevent or reduce this menace. Increasing awareness of stroke and its risk factors through public education can improve early recognition, reducing time to treatment and reducing the risk of stroke.
To design effective stroke education strategies an assessment of public knowledge of stroke is required. Knowledge of stroke risk factors and symptoms in the general population worldwide has been consistently found to be poor with knowledge levels poorest in groups that have the highest risk of stroke.
Let’s all prioritize our health, for life is only live once.
Story by: Priscilla Agyapong / Ahotoronline.com
