The survey also found that 92% of those surveyed knew of the disease and 75% had knowledge about its symptoms.
A survey carried out among 5000 visitors of Zydus Hospital in the city found that while awareness about the disease was quite high, just 32% knew about the 4 hours golden window period for treatment of stroke. The survey also found that 92% of those surveyed knew of the disease and 75% had knowledge about its symptoms. This was revealed at a press conference to announce the 13the Indian National Stroke Conference to be held in the city from March 15-17.
Dr Arvind Sharma, a neurologist and organising secretary of the conference said that the stroke is a result of blood clots or ruptures. "Half the battle is won if we manage to create awareness and the patient reaches in time to the nearest stroke ready centres," said Dr Sharma. He said the biggest culprit for stroke in Gujarat, particularly young people below 40, was blood pressure and smoking.
"Gujarat has an incidence rate at par with India or slightly more. The incident rate for stroke in the country is 130 cases per 100000 population. He said a simple preventive check-up called the carotid doppler (an ultrasound of the carotid arteries in the neck) can go a long way in help in early detection of the disease.
Vijay Kumar, a neurologist, with the National University Hospital, Singapore said that ageing was one of the big factors in stroke. "We can't stop ageing but in Singapore and other developed countries, 30% of the stroke cases that come to us are being treated with clot-busting medicines. In India, this figure is just 10% and that too restricted to big cities. This is because the golden window period available is lost in India due to lack of awareness," said Kumar.
He said the problem in countries like India was that while we have quickly adapted to the western way of life which also includes eating out a lot, the medical infrastructure including awareness has not kept pace. He said moreover, Asians were genetically more susceptible to blockage of the brain artery than westerners.
"In the 90s and early 2000 there was not much that could be done for stroke patients even from the treatment perspective. But these days thanks to technology the quality of life is much better but the important thing is that help riches within the golden hour," said Dr Sharma.
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 "Dr Simerpreet Bal, Dr Vijay Kumar Sharma and DR Arvind Sharma")
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