Brain Stroke Cases Spiral By 20% Since Pandemic | Hyderabad News

HYDERABAD: Findings of a survey — State of Stroke: A Survey On Awareness About Stroke In Urban India — conducted across 12 Indian cities, threw up worrisome statistics highlighting extremely low awareness on brain-related symptoms. As per the survey, 78% respondents in Hyderabad were aware of the term, brain stroke, 81% were oblivious to symptoms and only 19% knew about at least one symptom. This, even as overall burden of brain disease is on the rise, say experts from the city.
There has been a surge in neurological diseases since the onset of pandemic due to a multitude of reasons, including lack of sleep, anxiety, depression and stroke. It’s taking a toll on mental health and will take a while to recover, say doctors.

In fact, brain stroke cases spiralled by approximately 20% since the pandemic, underlining the need for awareness on symptoms of impaired brain function.
“Early recognition of symptoms and swift action can draw the line between life and death or between total recovery and long-term disability. We need to educate people on brain stroke symptoms and with improved awareness, we hope to curtail fatalities and emergency situations,” said Dr Subhash Kaul, senior consultant neurologist, KIMS Hospital.
Since rehabilitation is a costly affair and usually not covered by insurance companies, prevention is the key. “Maintaining brain health is important as brain diseases behave in a unique way and make diagnosis challenging. Long-term therapy is required along with rehabilitation as new cell growth after brain injury is slow. Maintaining brain health should be adopted as a policy,” said Dr Abhinay M Huchche, consultant neurologist, SLG Hospitals.