Ahmedabad: A 23-year-old youth complained of tingling on one side of his body when he woke up earlier last month. Sensing something wrong, the family rushed him to a nearby hospital where he was diagnosed with a stroke. Dr Hetal Parikh, a neurologist with Shalby Hospital, said that the youth was operated upon to remove the blood clots.
As October 29 is celebrated as World Stroke Day to create awareness about the life-threatening condition, city-based experts said that the second wave of Covid earlier this year also resulted in a spike in stroke cases.
Dr Sudhir Shah, a city-based senior neurologist and professor of neurology, said that lifestyle disorders including tobacco, alcohol and narcotic substances often trigger strokes among the younger age group. “High blood pressure, tobacco use, high lipid levels, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation and heart attack are the most important risk factors,” he said.
Dr Arvind Sharma, a senior neurologist at Zydus Hospital and secretary of Indian Stroke Association, said that blood clotting among Covid-recovered patients surely caused a higher number of stroke cases than usual even as the numbers are normalizing now. “The efforts on the day are to create awareness about the golden time period for stroke patients. As one witnesses any signs associated with stroke, the patient must be immediately brought to medical settings to increase their chances of survival and recovery,” he said.