About 1500 strokes are expected in Tasmania this year – up to 80 per cent of which could potentially be prevented.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The state has one of the highest rates of strokes in Australia. It is a disease that kills more women than breast cancer and more men than prostate cancer, according to the Stroke Foundation.
Chief executive Sharon McGowan was in Launceston on Thursday launching National Stroke Week with StrokeSafe ambassador Lillian Wong and Health Minister Michael Ferguson.
“It’s really important that we get the FAST message out,” Ms McGowan said.
“That’s the critical signs of a stroke. ‘F’ is for ‘face’ – has their face drooped? ‘A’ is for ‘arms’ – can they lift both arms? ‘S’ is for ‘speech’ – is their speech slurred? Can they understand you? And ‘T’ is for ‘time’ – it’s time to call 000.
“Minutes count. Brain cells will be lost every minute that the blood supply is blocked to the brain.”
Launceston stroke survivor, Ms Wong, has had three mini strokes – the first back in the 1990s.
“I have to take the smallest dose of aspirin for the rest of my life,” she said.
“I have to make sure I do not leave the house without eating something, because I could have a plummeting blood pressure level and that could set off the speech thing.”
She presented to her GP with “textbook” stroke symptoms after her first mini stroke.
“I said, ‘but the symptoms disappeared the next day’, and they said, ‘that’s what we call a mini stroke’, where momentarily, the blood vessels pumping oxygen from your heart to the brain was interrupted.
“That’s why we tell everyone, if you’re feeling off, go look in the mirror. Smile and see if both sides of your lips lift up simultaneously or raise both arms. If you can’t raise both arms equally, that’s symptom number two. Or the third one, like me, I couldn’t understand speech.”
Ms McGowan said stroke didn’t have to be such a killer in the 21st century.
“It’s a very treatable disease but it’s a time critical medical emergency.
“It’s [also] a very preventable disease if people take action.”
People with high blood pressure are most at risk of a stroke, Ms McGowan said.
“We know that across Australia, over 4 million people have high blood pressure and often they have no symptoms. The first time they realise is when they’ve had a stroke, and that’s a tragedy.
“So what we’re encouraging people to do this National Stroke Week is visit one of our stroke health check events and actually get your blood pressure checked.
“It’s also important to be physically active, to watch your diet and to watch your cholesterol, keeping your alcohol consumption down, and of course, if you smoke, stop smoking.
“We have a big obesity problem in Australia so we need to reduce levels of obesity.”
RELATED STORIES:
