by Dong delos Reyes September 7, 2022 Dr. Gerardo Carmelo B. Salazar, Chief executive officer of LUDHMC LUCENA CITY - August in Stroke Aware...
September 7, 2022
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| Dr. Gerardo Carmelo B. Salazar, Chief executive officer of LUDHMC |
LUCENA CITY - August in Stroke Awareness Month- stroke and heart ailments arising from choked blood vessels leading to the brain or heart are the top two killers of Filipinos. They would kill some more in the years ahead.
Stroke or brain attack is akin to heart attack; both are non-contagious unlike the much-vaunted plague that was used as excuse to incur hundreds of millions of pesos in loans and the crippling of the nation's economy. A brain attack is far deadlier and can leave the victim paralyzed for life or saddled with speech defect.
However, strokes can be prevented, according to neuro-psychiatrist Dr. Gerardo Carmelo B. Salazar, ehief executive officer of Lucena United Doctors Hospital and Medical Center (LUDHMC) in a recent airing of Sentinel Times on Air at Cool 101.5 radio.
He related that teams of health professionals had been making the rounds of communities to step up people's awareness on stroke.
The term "brain attack' is now in use to point up the emeergency- read: deadly- nature of stroke that stems mostly from non-healthy lifestyle brought upon the populace by the changing times.
"Hindi lang presyo ng bilihin ang tumaas, pati stress levels, pagkain na mas mabigat, mag-iisip, mapapasigarilyo, at kung minsan, to resort to other pick-me-ups.
"Stress in itself can cause obesity; it alters basically how we eat, how we sleep. Our lifestyle is fast-paced, lahat madalian, lahat instant. Nawawala 'yung (laid-back, patient) romance of time," Dr. Salazar noted.
People are now afflicted with a gast-food mentality: "We go for take-outs rather than cook from scratch with control over food ingredients," he added.
While stroke victims are mostly adults, he noted that stroke among the young happens to teeners and children, mostly those with heart defects.
"We all have to earn a living but we have to have time for ourselves; relax, kahit 5-10 minutes quiet time to self-reflect, dedicate to peace of mind, peace of heart and general well-being," he said.
He warned that while there are procedures for heart transplant, there is none for brain transplant.
"Having a healthier lifestyle after a stroke episode can prevent another stroke. Kumain ng gulay, prutas, tamang amount ng kanin, matulog na tama sa oras, magkaroon ng recreation, laro, libang, trabaho- all in moderation," he averred.
One stroke episode isn't a death sentence. Lifestyle change can prevent another stroke, he noted.
Act FAST on seeing a stroke strike- FAST refers to signs of an attack, Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties and, most importantly, the patient has to be rushed to the nearest hospital that has a stroke team always on the ready to tend to patients.
"Stroke awareness runs throughout the year, runs throughout our lives," he said.
WHO data published in 2020 cited that stroke Deaths in Philippines reached 74,167 or 11.00% of total deaths. The age adjusted Death Rate is 104.08 per 100,000 of population, and ranks Philippines #66 in the world.
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