YRMC urges awareness on strokes
Condition is 5th-leading cause of death in U.S.
Although the month of May, which is Stroke Awareness Month, has ended, Yuma Regional Medical Center (YRMC) is encouraging the public to stay vigilant on being educated on the subject.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics show that stroke is the fifth leading cause of death for Americans.
“Women are more likely to have strokes than men are,” said YRMC Stroke Program Coordinator Micaela Prevatke. “It’s the fifth-leading cause of death overall, but it’s the thirdleading cause of death for women.”
According to YRMC Neurology Medical Director Gregory Baker, it is vital to know the symptoms of a stroke in order to act quickly as each minute that passes is crucial. He explained that every minute that someone is suffering from a stroke, that person loses 2 million neurons, which are the nerve cells transmitting nerve impulses enabling a person to be able to see, think etc.
Prevatke added that YRMC has been putting forth efforts to spread community awareness on the symptoms of a stroke.
“We’ve been working on it a little bit at a time and just recently really working on the community outreach using our social media and working together on all of the community projects,” she said.
Educating the public on the symptoms of a stroke, Baker stressed, is key.
“One of the hardest things to get out there are what are the signs and symptoms,” he said. “We have so many patients that when they have symptoms or signs of stroke they don’t take it seriously like a heart attack. They will just stay at home (and) take a nap.”
Baker said common signs and symptoms of a stroke include weakness or numbness on one side of the body, visual loss, facial droop or speech becoming slurred, acute or severe dizziness and inability to
walk. He added that there is an acronym to better remember the signs — FAST, which stands for: F: Facial asymmetry A: Arm weakness S: Speech difficulties T: Time to call 911 Once someone is exhibiting symptoms of a stroke, Baker stressed the importance of calling 911.
“Because time matters, don’t drive to the hospital,” he said. “Don’t go to urgent care, don’t go to your primary care physician. Call 911 because there are things EMS (emergency medical services) can do for you. They can draw blood, they can call (the hospital) ahead of time so the stroke team is waiting at the front door when they get there. There are medications if you get there quickly that you may be a candidate for that can help break up the clot that is causing the stroke.”
YRMC is also taking measures in their process of handling a stroke to help shave off valuable minutes. For instance, in the past, EMS would bring a patient to the hospital and blood work would be conducted. Now, within the past year through a partnership with YRMC, Prevatke said EMS is doing the blood work on site.
Not only does conducting blood work on site save time, but it is also what is needed to see if a patient is a candidate for certain medications such as Alteplase, which is used to treat acute myocardial infarctions and other severe conditions caused by blood clotting.
Prevatke said the national goal is to be under 60 minutes from the time the patient hits the door of a hospital to the time they get the Alteplase medication. Currently, she said YRMC is averaging 45 minuses and has been under 60 minutes for the last year. YRMC has also implemented “Code White” within the hospital as an organized process to handle strokes.
“The most common cause of stroke is from a blood clot forming in the brain,” Baker said. “When it forms, oxygen and glucose doesn’t get to a particular area of brain tissue. Depending on what that brain tissue area did, you will lose that function whether it’s weakness, numbness, speech etc. That area of brain tissue dies. It’s very serious.”
When experiencing symptoms of a stroke, Baker also noted to avoid drinking water and taking aspirin.
“When people are having a stroke, it’s different than a heart attack,” Baker said. “There are parts that aren’t functioning and the water and the aspirin can go down the wrong tube and get into the lungs and cause pneumonia.”
Obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking can all put a person at a greater risk for a stroke, he noted.
“Hypertension is also known as the silent killer,” Baker said. “Even mild elevations of blood pressure are now found to be pretty significant.”
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle with exercise and proper nutrition as well as avoiding cigarettes are recommended as preventative measures. Additionally, Baker said the public should be aware of a transient ischemic attack (TIA) which is a brief, stoke-like attack.
“Symptoms of TIA usually last from five to 15 minutes, maybe up to an hour and then it resolves,” Baker said. “But, because it resolves, a lot of people falsely assume that it’s not an emergency but what that is is a warning sign that a big stroke might be coming. It’s kind of like the tremor before the earthquake. One third of patients that have a TIA have a major stroke within a year and ten to 15 percent have one within three months.”
If a TIA is suspected to be occurring, Baker says to seek immediate medical attention because while it may not be a stroke, a TIA could lead to drawing attention to preventative measures.
“Getting those risk factors addressed decreases the risk of further stroke in the next three, six or 12 months,” he said.
More information on strokes and the stroke program at YRMC can be found at www.yumaregional.org/MedicalServices/Neurology
For questions or for more information on collaborations for community outreach projects call (928) 336-2442.