The number of people going to A&E following a stroke has increased by over 30 per cent since 2009, according to new estimates from the British Heart Foundation (BHF).
However the number of people dying in the UK after suffering a stroke has remained stubbornly high – with numbers remaining largely unchanged in the last five years.
Russell Hanford had a stroke when he was 35, and has been left without the ability to speak.
His wife Rachel has since become his voice.
“Most people see strokes as a thing that happens to older people, but Russell is proof that it can happen to anyone,” she said.
“No-one expects to be left without a voice at the age of 35.
“It’s so important that we find new ways to treat people who have had a stroke.”
The BHF warns that more research is urgently needed to find better ways to prevent and treat the disease.
Only one drug, alteplase, is currently approved to treat stroke in the UK and for some types of stroke there is no proven treatment.
What is a stroke?
The two most common types of stroke are ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke.
Ischaemic strokes happen when the artery that supplies blood to your brain is blocked, for example by a blood clot.
Haemorrhagic strokes happen when a blood vessel bursts and bleeds into your brain, damaging brain tissue and starving some of your brain cells of blood and oxygen.
Stroke treatment
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, Medical Director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This year in the UK around 40,000 people will die after having had a stroke, while 1.2 million people are living with the cruel and debilitating after-effects of this devastating disease.
“Although some exciting new developments have been made in stroke treatment, the options at our disposal for treating stroke patients are still far too limited.
“We urgently need to fund more research to better understand what causes a stroke so that we can prevent them occurring and develop new treatments for all types of stroke, in order to save more lives.”
Currently, the BHF is funding 31 research projects worth £16.5 million pounds looking into the causes of stroke and looking to develop new treatments for those affected.
For example, BHF-funded researchers at the Universities of Edinburgh and Nottingham are conducting a clinical trial of drugs they believe could offer a new treatment for lacunar stroke.
Lacunar stroke
Lacunar stroke accounts for around one in five strokes and has no proven treatment.
It is caused by damage to one of the small vessels deep within the brain that affects the flow of blood and can lead to long-term disability.
Professor Joanna Wardlaw, chair of Applied Neuroimaging at the University of Edinburgh, leading the research, said: “It’s very clear that lacunar strokes can cause strategic brain damage, affecting thinking ability, balance and the way people walk.
“With this in mind, there is a strong link between this type of stroke and dementia.
“This trial is important as it’s one of the first looking into treatments for this particular type of stroke.
“Following treatment with these drugs, we’ll be monitoring how the blood vessels are changing and seeing if they improve the outcomes of patients that have suffered a lacunar stroke.”
Daily Express :: Life and Style Feed
