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| The portrait of dr. Annisa Nurul Arofah, Sp.S, M.Biomed., the lecturer of the School of Medicine at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM). (Photo: Istimewa) |
Stroke is the number one disability-causing disease in the world and causes impaired brain function. When categorized, there are two groups of stroke: blockage and bleeding. Blockage stroke occurs when the blood vessels in our brain are blocked by the thickening of the blood vessel walls due to fatty crusts; meanwhile, a bleeding stroke occurs if a blood vessel ruptures in the brain.
"(Both) blockage and bleeding strokes cause the brain not to get food and oxygen supply and then cause functional disorders," explained dr. Annisa Nurul Arofah, Sp.S, M.Biomed., the Faculty of Medicine lecturer at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM).
Symptoms to look out for in a stroke include sudden balance or visual disturbances. Likewise, a face that is asymmetrical on one side or a weakness that appears on one side of the body. These are red flags that signal patients to be immediately treated.
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Annisa asserted that stroke can affect various ages. Most cases occur due to hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Lifestyle changes also cause this disease to be experienced by young people.
Women, particularly those who experience stroke due to hormonal birth control and other risk factors, such as obesity, elevated cholesterol level, or diabetes. Also, smoking is one of the causing factors of stroke.
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Two types of stroke risk factors consist of modified and non-modifiable elements. The non-modifiable factors are race, age, and sex. Firstly, Asians have a higher risk of stroke than Europeans do. Second, the higher the period is, the higher risk of stroke. Women of childbearing age have hormones that (can) protect against stroke.
“(So) when women have menopause, they have a higher risk of experiencing a stroke. Thirdly, men experience more bleeding-type strokes. Then, the modified factor is lifestyle management, such as keeping yourself from hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking, and alcohol consumption,” emphasized the Faculty of Medicine lecturer.
Annisa shared 10 steps to prevent strokes: controlling blood pressure, doing physical exercise for 30 minutes daily or 5 times a week, applying a healthy and balanced diet, lowering cholesterol level, measuring body weight and waist-to-hip index, avoiding smoking (both active and passive), staying away from alcoholic beverages.
“The eighth and ninth steps are recognizing the pulse and maintaining blood sugar in the body. The last but not least is income and knowledge: prepare yourself for the possibility of a stroke attack,” concluded Annisa. (imh/dev/wil)
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