Stroke Prevention

Stroke Rehabilitation and Recovery is a long drawn out process which can be exhausting and de-motivating for both the survivors and their family members. We have compiled some of the best tips from patients, family caregivers and professionals. Stroke survivor Javed Ameer's 3 most important tips for rehabilitation for a cerebral stroke patient are: Be ‘physical’. Cycle, walk, jog, run, exercise……… Accept your fate and state. Mentally. Faster you do it, better for your peace of mind! Reading…

Mausumi Ghosh from Mumbai talks about the travails of taking care of her mother, 77 who suffers from dementia in addition to other conditions like osteosporosis. My mother is an osteoporosis patient from 2003 when she underwent hip replacement operation in Mumbai. She recovered from the same very well and was mobile and independent till she met with a ‘fall’ at home in 2010 and broke her ‘femur bone’ (left leg). She got herself operated twice in Kolkata in AMRI hospital and both the times the ‘…

Symptoms like weight loss, memory loss, weakness, and fatigue should not be mistaken as a sign of the"normal aging" process. Dr. Shital Patel explains 12 common but misleading symptoms in the elderly and why you should seek a doctor's opinion instead of ignoring them.  Symptoms in the elderly can have very different causes than they may have in a young person. Many symptoms in the geriatric population may be masked by concurrent chronic ailments, injuries, age-related physiological…

And she still counts her blessings! Bhairavi (not her real name) fainted and lost her vision, speech all at once. Read more to find out how she came to understood the cause and how she resumed painting.  The beginning It all started in summer of 2004, when my husband had just lost his mother and we went to Calcutta for her last rites. The evening of the shraadh or memorial gathering, I was looking for a mouth freshener since I hadn’t eaten all day. My relative offered me some supari (…

After a stroke nearly 20-40 per cent patients develop communication problems or aphasia, the inability to comprehend and formulate language because of damage to specific language areas in the brain. Dr Sujata Gandhi, Speech Therapist, Nanavati Hospital, advises that speech and language therapy is the best way to restore normalcy and quality of life. How does a stroke or ‘brain attack’ affect speech and communication? A stroke causes damage to the Speech and Language areas of the brain. For most…

Javed Ameer talks about how he picked up the pieces after a cerebral stroke and his three mantras for successful rehabilitation. Trigger warning: Includes suicide ideation  1.    What were the immediate effects of your cerebral stroke? I returned home, paralysed. and almost 80% blind (could only see silhouettes!), led by my daughters. Extremely miraculously, my total vision came back one fine day as I stood in my balcony. The whole vision just came suddenly as if someone has…

Vasant Samant, a supremely independent man, lost all that was dear to him when he suffered a stroke and was paralysed on the left side of his body. Into 10 years of his stroke, his daughter, Deepa Soman, noted down 10 lessons to caregivers drawn from her experience of inspiring and being inspired. Carrying his tray of tea and biscuits at 6 am, I enter his room. He has left his door slightly ajar, sign that he is up and ready for his tea. He has pulled the calendar off the wall as is his monthly…

Javed Ameer,54 from Ahmedabad, India had a life changing experience when he suffered a cerebral stroke, despite leading a disciplined life. He talks about how he has coped and is still coping with it, and rues about the unpredictability of life. Please tell us a bit about your condition before you had the stroke. There is nothing exceptional about my condition. I used to be on medicines and a management regime for essential hypertension for some 5 years and had an exciting high-adrenalin job in…

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in India and a leading cause of disability. Dr. Atulabh Vajpeyee, neurologist and founder of the Stroke Support Group Udaipur (SSGU), talks about the magnitude of the problem of stroke, how to rein in your risks and the importance of correct and timely management of the disease. Stroke is the second most common cause of death after coronary artery diseases. What are the different types of stroke? It is the second leading cause of death in the world,…

Exercise and yoga can improve quality of life for people with mental illness and reduce risks of strokes, diabetes, auditory hallucinations and other health problems, informs Dr R Padmavati, Additional Director, Schizophrenia Research Foundation. World Health Organisation defines physical activity as any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure. Physical activity is not just "exercise". Exercise, is a subcategory of physical activity that is planned,…