Stroke is a medical emergency. It happens when blood flow to the brain stops. The longer the blood flow is cut off to the brain, the greater the damage.
The effects of a stroke range from mild to severe and can include paralysis, problems with thinking and speaking, and worst, death.
In a press conference on stroke last Tuesday in Quezon City, Dr. Ester Bitanga, president of the Stroke Society of the Philippines (SSP), said, “The best treatment for stroke is not to have one.”
She explained that stroke is preventable with the right diet, exercise and healthy lifestyle.
Bitanga said stroke prevention is SSP’s main advocacy. Their awareness campaign is intensified every year during the Brain Attack Awareness Week held every third week of August.
At the media event, Dr. Artemio Roxas Jr., SSP secretary and chairman of the Stroke Council of the Philippine Neurological Association, discussed the burden of stroke.
He said stroke symptoms include sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech, and sudden severe headache with no known cause.
Roxas said, “Stroke victims have the best chance of surviving an attack when they are aware that they are having an attack and people around them recognize the symptoms and act quickly.”
To empower communities against this dreaded medical condition, stroke specialists will again meet for the SSP’s annual convention with the theme “Empowering the Community Against Stroke.”
The annual convention is slated on Aug. 16-18 at El Centro Convention Center Legenda Hotel in Subic.
The latest breakthroughs in the field of stroke management will be discussed during the three-day convention.
A lay forum will also be conducted on the first day to further disseminate information on the disease and ways to prevent it.
The Stroke Research Contest will also be launched during the convention. The contest, a joint project of SSP and sanofi-aventis, aims to encourage doctors to further explore treatment modalities and develop surgical techniques to enhance stroke treatment in the country.
For inquiries on the Stroke Research Contest or SSP annual convention, call the SSP secretariat at 723-0101 local 5143 or e-mail at ssp_secretariat@yahoo.com.