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Health organisations are warning that strokes becoming an increasing risk for people in Australia.
According to the Australian Stroke Foundation, there were over 27,000 Australians who experienced stroke for the first time in their lives in 2020, which equates to one stroke every 19 minutes.
Executive Director of Marketing at the Stroke Foundation, John De Rango says a stroke could be brought on by various reasons.
"Some of the main areas of concern tends to be untreated high blood pressure. Is one of the highest risk factors for stroke and unfortunately you don't know if you've got high blood pressure unless you go and get your blood pressure checked. So we do tell as many Australians as possible to go and get their blood pressure checked because it can be treated, high blood pressure can be treated. There's also family history of stroke, being overweight, smoking, having high cholesterol or a high intake of alcohol and/or having diabetes can be lead causes of stroke."
Stroke is one of Australia’s biggest killers.
It kills more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer.
There are over 445,000 Australians living with the effects of stroke.
One of them is David Luxton who says having a stroke has affected his life in many ways.
"Certainly, I'm not working anymore, even though I loved work when I was working and still in day-by-day, getting through, trying to find improvements where I can and just finding ways to enjoy life."
Mr De Rango explains in greater detail the ways in which having a stroke can impact a person's daily life.
"Because the brain controls everything we do, the way we think, the way we move, speak an eat, stroke can leave people with a wide range of physical and/or cognitive changes and disabilities. Now, some of the effects can include paralysis, speech and swallowing difficulties, problem with memory, hearing or eyesight. It all depends on where in the brain the stroke occurs and how severe it is. There's two types of stroke, there's either a blood clot, or a bleed. But, in essence, stroke is the way we describe the blood supply to the brain being suddenly cut off or affected."
When a stroke strikes, it attacks up to 1.9 million brain cells per minute.
That means there's very little time for a person to react or even realise that they're actually having a stroke.
Mr Luxton talks us through the hours before his stroke occurred.
"The morning it happened, I wasn't feeling that great. It had been a busy few days and I was feeling pretty tired but, other than that, I wasn't really sure, I thought I was having some sort of bad migraines when it actually hit but, fortunately, I had a colleague there who recognised there was something much worse than that and got everyone to call the paramedics to come and have a look at me."
However, according to the Stroke Foundation, more than 80 percent of strokes can be prevented.
Mr De Rango suggests the highly effective F.A.S.T. approach so people can be aware of how to respond to a stroke.
"There's a very simple acronym to remember and that is is acronym of F.A.S.T. 'F' is for 'face', has their face dripped or is their face dripped. 'A' is for 'arms', can they lift both arms. 'S' is for 'speech', is their speech slurred or do they understand you. And if any of those signs (are) present, 't' is for 'time'. Time is absolutely critical because stroke is always a medical emergency. So call triple zero immediately if any of those face, arms or speech signs are present. "
During this year's National Stroke Week, which is observed between 7-13 August, the Stroke Foundation is warning that without preventative action by 2050, the number of first-ever strokes experienced by Australians annually will increase to 50,600, or one stroke every 10 minutes.
They also say there will be 819,900 survivors of stroke living in the community.
Numbers that seem unnaturally high for a health symptom that can be prevented by leading a healthier lifestyle and by scheduling a visit to your GP a bit more often.
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