There are trends in every area of life, including health. How else do we explain the general awareness of, for example, breast cancer, when we compare it to something that actually kills more women. Like stroke. That’s right, strokes kill more women in Australia than breast cancer, but we never hear about it, it’s never on the news, and it’s not focused on when we talk about preventable deaths. We don’t have benefits for it like we do with other illnesses. It’s almost shushed aside because we assume they’re not as dangerous
But the figures on stroke are staggering. “Every ten minutes someone in Australia will suffer a stroke and there are a thousand cases each week. 51,000 people will have a stroke in 2014. Close to 12,000 people will die from stroke and two-thirds of those that survive will be disabled,” says National Stroke Foundation CEO, Dr Erin Lalor.
Now that’s made us sit up and take notice, hasn’t it?
Stroke Foundation Ambassador, Channel 7’s Sydney newsreader Chris Bath, explained to The Carousel that it affected her directly.
“My dad, Don, had a catastrophic stroke just before Easter 2009,” Bath says, “he was fit, had never smoked, had a healthy diet and had always been the “can do” bloke in the lives of myself, my sister and mother. The stroke was a complete shock.
“It took me many years to talk about it publicly because, like so many Australians suddenly thrust into the role of carers, we were too busy looking after Dad to stage a revolution.
“That all changed for me when my grandmother died in May last year. Watching my half paralysed father trying to say goodbye to his dying 95-year-old mother is one of the saddest things I have ever witnessed. A shell of the man I knew stooped over my grandmother’s deathbed, reduced to an undignified, non-stop drooling, sobbing, mess. Here was the stalwart of our lives strangely coherent despite his stroke-inflicted aphasia, whimpering “I love you Mamma. I love you Mummy. I hope you’re still here when I come back in the morning.” Dad’s poor stroke battered brain was so overcome, he lost bladder control as my Mum Maureen held him to stop him falling on top of his mother as he tried to kiss her goodbye.
“I spent four nights watching Nan die in Wyong Hospital. When she was conscious, she kept begging my sister Kath and I to “Look after Donny”. Those long nights I had plenty of time to think about how I could do that. So I started researching stroke. After 26 years in journalism, much of it spent anchoring news bulletins, I had broadcast so little about it. What I discovered enraged me.”
Bath says we need our politicians to “wake up. Stroke is the second biggest killer of Australians. It kills more men than prostate cancer, more women than breast cancer.”
New research by the National Stroke Foundation has pinpointed the towns in Australia most susceptible to stroke.
- Adelaide, South Australia, in the federal electorate of Hindmarsh leads the way with 519 Adelaideians having a stroke so far in 2014, with 136 deaths.
- Port Macquarie, New South Wales is next with 479 people suffering a stroke, 113 deaths.
- Western Port Bay, Victoria comes in third with 462 people having had a stroke this year, with 108 deaths.
- Adelaide, SA again, this time the federal electorate of Sturt is fourth, with 477 people having a stroke, 118 people dying.
- Shellharbour/ Kiama, NSW is fifth with 446 stroke victims, 103 deaths from stroke.
However, there is no postcode untouched when it comes to stroke, according to Dr Lalor, “Despite successive governments recognising stroke as a national health priority, Australia does not have a federally funded strategy or the care services to address widespread need.” And the need is great, with almost 440,000 Australians living with the impact of stroke, which is a huge burden on our health industry, costing Australia $5billion annually.
Chris Bath can’t understand why there is no national strategy to tackle this enormous health issue.
“Notionally 80% are preventable – these are clot strokes usually brought on by life-style factors and high blood pressure. For argument’s sake, let’s assume not everyone wants to buy into healthy living to prevent stroke but even if we could stop 40% of strokes, it would save thousands of lives, stop unnecessary disability and actually save the health system money. Even if pollies don’t care about the human cost, the economic benefits of increasing stroke awareness are massive.
“Stroke cost the health budget $5Billion in 2012 alone. Imagine the savings if we raised awareness and prevented just 40% strokes, imagine the savings Mr Hockey!” Bath says enthusiastically.
“Stroke was identified as a national health priority in 1996. Nearly 20 years on, bugger all has been done about Stroke awareness and the deaths and permanent disability it causes is wreaking havoc in communities around Australia. If it was a ‘national health priority’ in 1996, it’s a bloody national emergency now.”
How to prevent stroke:
Those most at risk of stroke are living with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) or those living a sedentary lifestyle. The states who have the highest rate of stroke per head of the population are South Australia and Tasmania, and the statistics match with those areas who also have the highest recorded levels of blood pressure, cholesterol and inactivity.
So the first thing we can do to prevent stroke is to get moving. Just a half hour of exercise every single day will make an enormous difference to your life. It could lengthen it. And it could save you from being part-paralysed by stroke, and therefore dependent on others. You don’t have to train like you’re on The Biggest Loser to get benefits either. All you have to do is make time to go for a walk, every single day. Think of it as you time, time to think, reflect and get energised for the day. It’s easy and it’s free.
The second thing to do is to cut excess sugar out of your life. Nothing will make you drop weight faster or get you feeling healthier. Substitute fruit for muffins and a cup of peppermint tea for soft drink and fruit juices. The impact on your health will be immediate.
If you make just those two simple, easy changes, living a healthier life will naturally follow and your risk of stroke can be minimised.
And, Chris Bath adds, “If you couldn’t be bothered looking after your body, then at least get your blood pressure checked. It’s hardly a challenge – far less confronting than a pap smear or prostate check! If you could stop yourself ending up like my Dad, why wouldn’t you?”
Do you take active steps to prevent having a stroke? Tell us in the comments below.