For two days Pawan Kumar, a 41-year-old businessman, kept having recurrent dizziness during which he lost control over his limbs and tongue for brief intervals.

The local doctor conducted an ECG and blood test, assured him that all was well and sent him home.

It was only next morning, when Kumar landed at the hospital after another attack, did he realise that he had been suffering from brain stroke for the past two days. “I was lucky to have made it to the hospital alive after dismissing the stroke as minor stress for two days,” says Kumar, who has now joined office after two weeks of rest.

“I was about to go home for lunch but I could not get my right arm and leg to move. My speech was slurred and vision was blurring. The doctors told me I was lucky to reach the hospital,” he adds.

TIME IS OF ESSENCE

Not all patients are as lucky as Kumar.

Since strokes usually do not cause severe pain, patients often delay seeking treatment, which results in extensive brain tissue damage.

According to Indian Stroke Association, only 2 per cent of stroke patients reach the hospital in time. If the patient reaches the hospital within 6 hours of having a stroke, the chances of making a full recovery are as high as 40-45 per cent, say experts.

“So far only 68 patients have reached us within the proverbial golden hour, during which if properly treated the patients can make a full recovery,” says Dr Puneet Agarwal, Senior Neurologist and Max Devki Devi Super specialty Hospital, who treated Pawan Kumar. Most patients do not understand the symptoms and hence do not come to the hospital at all. “When patients reach us in time, we can treat them and ensure that their symptoms improve within 24 hours. We can also minimize the chances of recurrence,” says Agarwal.

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