In the first ten months of this year, 148 patients with a diagnosis of stroke, one of the most common causes of death, were treated at the Clinic for Neurology of the Clinical Center (KC).
On the occasion of World Stroke Day, which is celebrated around the world on October 29, the head of the Department of Intensive Neurological Treatment with the Stroke Unit Zilha Idrizović she said that the rate of the disease doubles every decade in people over the age of 55 and that men get sick more often.
Idrizović says that thrombolytic therapy and/or mechanical thrombectomy were applied to some patients who met the criteria - modern therapeutic procedures for the treatment of stroke that have been successfully applied in KC for many years.
"In 2022, 44 mechanical thrombectomies were performed, of which the largest number of patients were from Podgorica (37), and the number of performed thrombectomies per 100.000 inhabitants is about 19 patients. Comparatively, 20 per 100.000 inhabitants are done annually in Germany. By October 2023, 24 mechanical thrombectomies were performed, where again Podgorica is represented by far the most. The average in neighboring countries is about seven thrombectomies per 100.000, so the results of our stroke team are excellent so far, and will be even better when other centers from the country are more actively involved in the network for acute stroke," Idrizović points out.
Two groups of risk factors
Speaking about risk factors, Idrizović says that risk factors are divided into those that cannot be influenced and those that can significantly reduce the likelihood of a subsequent stroke by changing lifestyle or applying therapy.
"The first group includes gender, race, genetic predisposition to blood vessel disease and age. When we talk about gender, men have a higher risk of stroke, but due to longer life expectancy, stroke will be more likely to be the cause of death in women and is the third cause of death in women, and the fifth cause of death in men. People of white race have the lowest probability of having a stroke, even up to two times less compared to people of black race, who are at the highest risk", emphasizes the head of the Department of Intensive Neurological Treatment.
He claims that age is also a strong risk factor, so after the age of 55, the risk of developing the disease doubles every ten years.
Regulation of pressure, sugar, smoking cessation...
Idrizović says that it is important to constantly emphasize risk factors that can significantly affect the prevention of this life-threatening disease, especially when it is known that as many as four out of five strokes can be prevented.
She points out that smoking increases the risk of stroke by two times, but also by 40 percent in passive smokers, while elevated blood pressure increases the probability even two to four times, increasing atherosclerotic changes in all blood vessels. He says that regular control of blood pressure and taking therapy reduces not only the probability of stroke, but also heart attack, vascular dementia.
"Atrial fibrillation (a heart rhythm disorder in which there is a loss of synchronization of the heart's atria and ventricles) leads to the formation of blood clots in the heart cavities, which are then carried away by the blood stream until, depending on their size, they stop and prevent further blood flow that leads to an ischemic stroke, and the importance of taking drugs that prevent the formation of thrombus (anticoagulant therapy) is even greater when we say that six percent of the population over the age of 65 have this type of rhythm disorder and that every fifth person with a stroke has this disease," he emphasizes. Idrizovic.
She also says that people who suffer from uncontrolled diabetes are twice as likely to have a stroke, and those who develop the disease are almost twice as likely to have a fatal outcome.
"Obesity, first of all, is a risk for the onset of diabetes, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and elevated cholesterol levels, which significantly increase the likelihood of a stroke, as well as a bad outcome, as well as alcohol abuse (more than 30 g per day) and psychoactive substances", says Idrizović.
Stroke symptoms
By definition, a stroke is a sudden disruption of brain function due to disruption of cerebral circulation.
"For this reason, the onset of the clinical picture, that is, the symptoms of a stroke, is acute, i.e. sudden, and the manifestation depends on the area of the brain that is affected," emphasizes Idrizović.
She says that the most common symptoms that patients should pay attention to are facial asymmetry, difficulty speaking, half-body weakness, instability, double vision, especially if the symptoms appear suddenly and are associated with headache, nausea or vomiting.
"In these situations, we recommend that patients contact the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) as soon as possible for transport to the nearest health facility, because the time factor is one of the most important criteria for the application of invasive therapeutic procedures for the treatment of stroke (thrombolysis, mechanical thrombectomy) which are available in our country, and the success of the therapy depends on the application of which, and the fact that the symptoms appear earlier", concludes Idrizović.
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