Stroke, commonly known as "stroke", has five high characteristics. It is not only a disease of the elderly, but also common in young people. How can we prevent it?

When I returned to my hometown in the countryside in recent years, I clearly felt that there were more and more stroke patients, and some of them were even young people. What is the reason for this?

1. What is stroke?

Stroke, commonly known as "stroke", is an acute cerebrovascular disease. It is a group of diseases caused by sudden rupture or blockage of cerebral blood vessels, which prevents blood from flowing into the brain and causes brain tissue damage.

Stroke has the "five highs" characteristics of high morbidity, high disability rate, high mortality rate, high recurrence rate and high economic burden. It is one of the major chronic non-communicable diseases that threaten the health of our nation.

2. What is the reason for the high incidence of stroke among rural people?

There are more than 200 million people with hypertension in my country, many of whom live in rural areas. Many rural stroke patients have long-term uncontrolled hypertension or have poorly controlled hypertension. Uncontrolled hypertension can easily lead to diseases such as stroke.

They often take antihypertensive drugs for a few days, stop when their blood pressure returns to normal, and then take them for a few days again when they feel dizzy or have a headache. This causes repeated fluctuations in blood pressure, making complications more likely.

Rural diets are becoming more and more abundant, but physical activities are becoming less and less. Many people do not farm, but play mahjong every day, which leads to higher weight.

People eat high-salt, high-fat, and high-sugar foods whenever they want, and smoking and drinking during social events are common. However, their health awareness is very weak, physical activity is reduced, and the number of obese people is increasing.

Over the years, staying up late seems to have become a normal part of life for many people, such as watching mobile phones or playing mahjong. Although staying up late is fun, it can lead to metabolic disorders, weakened immune function, and excessive secretion of adrenaline, which can cause excessive fluctuations in blood pressure.

Once there are hardened plaques or blood clots in the blood vessels, they are more likely to fall off, thus inducing cerebral infarction. This has become an important reason for the high incidence of cerebral infarction in rural areas.

In addition, physical examinations are not very popular in rural areas, or people do not take them seriously. Some people do not take them seriously even if they find they have a disease, which eventually leads to the occurrence and development of cerebral infarction.

October 29, 2021 is the 16th "World Stroke Day". The theme is "Be alert to stroke symptoms, identify and treat as early as possible", and the slogan is "Identify stroke one second earlier, save the brain and recover well."

It is recommended that relevant rural departments actively carry out stroke health education, free clinics and other corresponding activities to effectively prevent and control high-risk factors of stroke, improve the recognition ability of the general public, reduce the occurrence of disability and death caused by the disease, and improve the health of the people!

3. Remember the "120" formula for the signs of stroke

The 120 in this formula refers to three examinations. If one or more of these symptoms appear, family members should immediately call 120 for medical treatment.

"1" means looking at one face to see if there are any sudden symptoms of crooked mouth corners, drooling, or asymmetric facial paralysis;

"2" means checking both arms to see if there is limb numbness or unilateral weakness when raised in parallel;

"0" refers to hearing language, whether it is difficult to speak, slurred or unable to speak. If these symptoms suddenly appear, it may be a stroke.

IV. How to prevent stroke? The following points should be noted in daily habits and behaviors:

1. Eat a low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar diet and eat more fresh vegetables and fruits;

2. Increase physical exercise moderately and overcome bad habits, such as quitting smoking and drinking, and avoiding sitting for long periods of time;

4. Avoid overwork and pay attention to weather changes;

6. Maintain emotional stability and live a positive and optimistic life;

7. Have regular health checks, pay attention to blood pressure stability, and prevent and treat problems early if they are discovered.

There are about 2 million new stroke patients in my country every year, of which 70%-80% cannot live independently due to disability, which seriously affects the quality of life of patients and also brings a heavy burden to their families. If people know more about stroke, they can identify the signs of stroke as early as possible and try to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

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