It shouldn’t be a surprise that a lot of the strokes that are being seen in the emergency rooms across the country could have been prevented. A recent study conducted at the University of California in Irvine confirmed this suspicion, finding that 76 percent of acute strokes had shown signs of preventability, while 26 percent of acute strokes showed signs of high preventability. They looked at over 250 patients with an average age of 67 and went over their medical records. With those patients, a scale from 1-10 was used to try and measure the preventability of the stroke. Things like hypertension, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation, and other factors were looked at. Basically, whatever medical factors that could have contributed to a stroke that were known beforehand were looked at, and the more intense the previously existing conditions were, the higher the patient’s likelihood of having a stroke. Effective treatment of these medical issues could have gone a long way toward preventing or delaying the stroke that was treated.
This has brought up a very interesting question: are medical professionals spending too much time focused on the treatment of stroke and not enough time on preventative measures? Stroke treatments have advanced quite a bit over the last couple years, but stroke prevention is lagging in comparison. Researchers in the above mentioned study created a new scale for measuring preventability, and this, or something like it, could go a long way toward helping to improve the odds of those that might suffer a stroke in the future.
For our part, when it comes to the care and assistance of our elderly loved ones, we should be focused on doing the little things that will help them to stay as healthy as possible. Medical checkups, exercise, good diets, and so on all seem like little things, but they are a key part of keeping our loved ones healthy. In some people, there might only be small adjustments needed. In others, an immediate lifestyle change could save their life. If they’ve already had a stroke, we can also be of help. Helping them to pay attention to recovery, whether it be getting them to their physical therapy appointments on time, or if it means finding them a professional in-home caregiver that can supervise their safety and assist with the daily tasks that can be so stressful for those that have suffered a stroke.
If things like strokes can be reduced in frequency or eliminated altogether, intensive and expensive senior care will not be needed in as many cases. Senior care of some sort will always be needed, but if the current trends going on in our society are not ceased or reversed quickly, there will be millions of elderly folk that need care. Under our society’s current infrastructure, there is not nearly enough caregivers out there to meet the minimum needs of senior citizens, even just ten years out into the future. There are steps underway to help combat this potential crisis, but more needs to be done in order to keep our families safe. Preventative measures, put in place sooner rather than later, are one of the easiest and cheapest ways to do so.
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