PGI Conduct Interactive Sessions for Stroke Campaign

By 121 News

Chandigarh 30^th October:- The Department Of Neurology, PGI is  conducting the World Stroke campaign from 25^th to 31^st October '15 with special focus on women as part of "World Stroke Day" held on 29^th October of every year. "I AM A WOMAN" is the slogan of this year's stroke awareness theme. The focus is also on reduction of Salt consumption to prevent stroke.

 On thursday, interactive sessions were conducted in National Institute of Nursing Education by various neurologists from PGI where the nursing students and the faculty were reinforced about the importance of risk factor management and prevention of stroke. Since, they are involved in patient management and care, an enlightened and primed nursing staff will be able to identify stroke at the earliest and take necessary action as well as educate patients and their relatives about stroke. Another highlighting event was the educative stall held in Elante Mall by neurologists and stroke team of PGI, Chandigarh. This group targeted people from the elite crowd of Chandigarh. Many enthusiastic people interacted with the team and learned about stroke, its symptoms, and risk factors and also about the importance of reduced Salt consumption in planning a healthy life style. It was surprising to know that many were not aware of symptoms of stroke, the importance of early treatment to prevent permanent disability, the risk factors of stroke such as diabetes, hypertension, smoking, excessive salt consumption, lack of exercise among many others. They were ignorant of the fact that an average Indian consumes about 10grams of salt which is twice the WHO recommended daily intake.

 Stroke is largely preventable through lifestyle management, yet to conquer stroke, women need gender-specific information, preventative practices, and acute and long-term care and support.

The first day of the event on 25^th October was a lecture in the Government Girls College, sector 42 which was attended by an enthusiastic group of NSS girls' cadets. They were briefed about stroke, its risk factors and the importance of prompt recognition and action during stroke.  The campaign was inaugurated by Director, PGI Prof Y K Chawla and educational brochures were released at the inauguration. Special information counters regarding stroke were displayed in and around PGI campus on 28^th and 29^th of October. The stroke patients were offered free investigations (blood sugars and lipid profile). Free checkups with blood pressure monitoring was done in several hundreds of patients. It was surprising to see that a sizeable population was unaware of signs and symptoms of stroke and risk factors of brain stroke while most knew what a heart attack was!!

These sessions were highly informative on stroke and its impact on society. The main aim was to make people aware of the early recognition of stroke. The concept of "F.A.S.T." detection of stroke symptoms was emphasized by the doctors. The acronym "F.A.S.T" -stands for F: Face (look for any facial drooping); A: Arm (look for any arm weakness); S: Speech (look for any speaking difficulty or slurred speech ) and if any of these is present – think that it could be stroke and the correct T:Time