WORLD STROKE DAY 2012: CMC Stroke Unit Conducts Stroke Walk

SPS Apollo Hospitals too, observe World Stroke Day

Ludhiana, October 29, 2012: CMC Stroke Unit has been carrying out several public awareness activities in the city for the past 6 days. This is to commemorate the Stroke Week and World Stroke Day. The World Stroke Day is celebrated throughout the world on 29^th October every year.

Dr Jeyaraj D Pandian, Chair of the World Stroke Campaign of World Stroke Organization said that this year’s theme is “1 in 6” people will experience a stroke in their life time. 

The medical students, physiotherapy interns and students, doctors of CMC, Staff and Students of All Saints College of Physiotherapy had gathered near Hotel Park Plaza today for the “Stroke Walk”. The number of people who participated in the walk was 120.

During the walk they displayed placards, educational leaflets to the public. They concluded the walk near canal road. Another team of doctors, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and students in a separate vehicle did the road show. They passed through Sarabha Nagar, civil lines, model town and various Malls in the city.

In the road show emphasis was placed on recognition of stroke symptoms and accessing to immediate treatment of stroke within 4 ½ hours.

Dr Santosh Mathangi, Consultant, Physical Medicine Rehabilitation Department who organised the stroke walk and road show stated that after the medical treatment patients should receive rehabilitation in the form of Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy and Speech therapy. 

Yesterday the team went to West End Mall and screened about 100 people for the risk factors of stroke. They also distributed stroke awareness pamphlets to the public.

The other key personnel involved in organizing the Stroke walk and Road show were Lizzy Julia, Rajni Arora,  College of Physiotherapy, Navneet Singh, Devan, Deepika Sharma, Dheeraj KV, Vice Principal, College of Physiotherapy, research staff of department of Neurology (Amber Sharma, Dr Shweta Jain, Gagandeep Mehmi, Dr Deepti Arora, Himanshu Koundal, Raminder Kaur, Paramdeep Kaur) and students and interns of College of Physiotherapy CMC and All Saints College of Physiotherapy.

The stroke team at CMC is available 24/7 to rapidly evaluate stroke patients who come within the golden time of 4 ½ hours after the onset of symptoms. The stroke warning symptoms are sudden weakness, numbness in one side of the body, sudden trouble speaking or understanding, sudden loss of vision in one eye, sudden imbalance, sudden headache and loss of consciousness. If any of you experience the above symptoms please call the stroke hotline numbers 7508100222, 7508100111.

Meanwhile, SPS Apollo Institute of Neurosciences observed the World Stroke Day by conducting a meeting of the stroke awareness club.Over 70 patients participated in an interactive patient education forum with Dr. RS Bhatia, Senior Consultant, Department of Neurology and Dr. Siddhartha Garg, Senior Consultant, Department of Neurology. According to Dr. Bhatia, the forum laid special emphasis on awareness, timely treatment and need for immediately rushing to the hospital as an important measure.

The ‘Stroke Club’ was launched last year on the World Stroke Day and in the past 1 year, the hospital has organized more than 30 sessions across the region. This initiative was launched in response to the low awareness levels about stroke, despite the fact that stroke is responsible for nearly 6 million deaths each year which is more than the number of deaths caused by AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis put together, according to Dr. Kapil Chib, Dy. Medical Director, SPS Apollo Hospitals.

The important  warning signs of stroke include, sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body, sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination and  sudden, severe headache with no known cause.  Importantly, there is little awareness about stroke, so building awareness remains the key, added Dr. RS Bhatia.

Most patients fail to reach medical centers owing to low awareness regarding stroke. Dr. Siddhartha Garg said that, stroke is a medical emergency and as soon as one notices any of the warning signs efforts should be made to rush patients to the hospital immediately. He further added that timely intervention can prevent damage caused to the body.