The renowned artist and popular Bengali writer, Debabrata Chakraborty, talked with Professor Dipes Kumar Mandal of the Stroke Foundation of Bengal, a World Stroke Organization SSO Member. Their conversation appeared as an article in the Dainik Stateman Newspaper in March 2018, reaching a large section of the 300 million Bengali-speaking people of Eastern India and Bangladesh. Here we share extracts from the article.
'The need to provide service to the rural
people always occupied my mind. However I felt that the
horizon of work needed to be
expanded. I pondered about involving a wider section of society, reaching
out to them with the message of health awareness as well as medical treatment.
Stroke kills many but many more may survive to be paralysed.We read the text books saying that stroke afflicts people
mostly around 70 years of
age. However in our country stroke strikes people between 40 - 60 years. Stroke or brain
attack is an important and devastating
disease of the brain. Devastation is either in the form of death or disability. I therefore started the Stroke Foundation of Bengal in 2006'.
'Does your Foundation provide awareness as well as
treatment?' I quizzed Dr. Mandal. He replied ' Those with high blood pressure should consume less salt, take daily exercise, and maintain a healthy body weight. Tobacco consumption is to be stopped
totally. Alcohol should be
restricted. Check your blood pressure regularly. If your blood
cholesterol is high consult your doctor and take medicines. If you follow these
rules you will prevent, not only stroke but also heart attacks'. 90% of strokes are linked to ten key risk factors.
I had drawn up a delicious
menu of mutton for lunch today…that mutton which I managed to buy after
walking miles to the CK market and making a beeline behind scores of people
eagerly waiting for their turn, Dr.Mandal’s warnings aroused me again 'eat
right, maintain a healthy body-mass index. Do not put on weight. Another
important fact is that low income and lack of education are related to the
incidence of stroke.Government policies to eradicate poverty, provide better education and health
facilities to the public will play a positive role to reduce the burden of stroke and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs)'.
I was mentally making up a list
of things to give up to make my life healthy. Dr. Mandal laughed 'life will be
more beautiful if you follow these rules. I have already emphasized that stroke
is preventable as well as treatable through
Awareness, Access and Action. For this measures need to be
adopted. We have brought out the Stroke Riskometer app in Bengali which will
inform you about your stroke risk factors and the preventive strategies.
Stroke happens when the blood supply to the brain is
hampered. Brain cells are damaged and later die without proper blood supply to
maintain the nutrition. Stroke symptoms depend upon the area of the brain
affected and could range from paralysis of limbs, speech problems, even
problems in thinking, memory and emotions. 17 million people are
affected every year all over the world of which 6 million die and there are 26 million stroke survivors. Stroke may affect
anyone and at any age'.
Albeit, at the end of this day I have
been enlightened through this friendly gossip with my neighbour. A spirit of
awareness has been generated inside me. Truly, these hard facts had to be
known.
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