Today, I would like to share with readers some general information on health issues for awareness and guidance, particularly about strokes which, unfortunately. commonly occur in the Solomon Islands.
I make a disclaimer, however, that persons in the Solomon Islands having personal concerns about any health issues should always seek advice from a health professional such as a doctor or medical consultant at a hospital or medical clinic or medical centre staffed with qualified medical doctors
Dangerous disease
In 2015, 6.2 million people died of a stroke, according to WHO. The stroke, which is only surpassed by ischemic heart disease, is second in the organization's survey of the top 10 causes of death worldwide
What is a stroke?
According to WHO, a stroke is the sudden death of some brain cells due to lack of oxygen. It happens when blood flow to the brain is lost by blockage or rupture of an artery in the brain.
Quick response
When it comes to detecting strokes and getting help, the faster, the better. This is because immediate treatment can make the difference between life and death, or the difference between a complete recovery and a long-term disability.
Diagnosis
To identify the symptoms of a stroke, the American Stroke Association (ASA) advises to make a F.A.S.T. assessment, looking for signs of face (F) drooping, arm (A) weakness, speech (S) difficulty. If you notice all of these then it's time (T) to make an emergency call.
Recognising the signs of a stroke
The signs and symptoms of a stroke vary from person to person, but usually begin suddenly.
As different parts of your brain control different parts of your body, your symptoms will depend on the part of your brain affected and the extent of the damage.
The main stroke symptoms can be remembered with the word FAST:
- Face – the face may have dropped on 1 side, the person may not be able to smile, or their mouth or eye may have drooped.
- Arms – the person may not be able to lift both arms and keep them there because of weakness or numbness in 1 arm.
- Speech – their speech may be slurred or garbled, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake; they may also have problems understanding what you're saying to them.
- Time – it's time to dial 999 immediately if you notice any of these signs or symptoms.
It's important for everyone to be aware of these signs and symptoms, particularly if you live with or care for a person who is in a high-risk group, such as someone who is elderly or has diabetes or high blood pressure.
Other possible symptoms
Symptoms in the FAST test identify most strokes, but occasionally a stroke can cause different symptoms.
Other signs and symptoms may include:
- complete paralysis of 1 side of the body
- sudden loss or blurring of vision
- dizziness
- confusion
- difficulty understanding what others are saying
- problems with balance and co-ordination
- difficulty swallowing (dysphagia)
- a sudden and very severe headache resulting in a blinding pain unlike anything experienced before
- loss of consciousness
What increases my chance of having a stroke?
A risk factor increases your chance of developing a condition. Risk factors for a stroke are similar to those for heart diseases, such as angina or heart attacks.
There are many things you can do to help lower your chances of a stroke:
- eat healthily
- be physically active
- keep to a healthy weight and lose weight if necessary
- don't smoke
- cut down on alcohol
- control high blood pressure
- control high cholesterol
Transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
The symptoms of a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), also known as a mini-stroke, are the same as a stroke, but tend to only last between a few minutes and a few hours before disappearing completely.
Although the symptoms do improve, a TIA should never be ignored as it's a serious warning sign of a problem with the blood supply to your brain.
It means you're at an increased risk of having a stroke in the near future.
If a TIA is suspected, you will be offered aspirin to take straightaway. This helps to prevent a stroke.
Even if the symptoms disappear while you're waiting for help to arrive, an assessment in a hospital should still be done. You should be referred to see a specialist within 24 hours of the start of your symptoms.
If you think you have had a TIA before, but the symptoms have since passed and you did not seek medical advice at the time, make an urgent appointment with a doctor
They can refer you for a hospital assessment, if appropriate.
Sources – WHO, MSM and UK (NHS)
What a 'Normal' Resting Heart Rate Should Really Be
by Emilia Benton, Emily Shiffer
2.5 billion. No, it's not how old the Earth is. It's the average amount of times the heart beats in a lifetime, according to the American Heart Association.
A quick review on this important organ: The heart's function is to ensure that blood is getting circulated throughout the body; blood is what provides oxygen to all of our organs and tissues to ensure optimal function, explains Suneet Singh, M.D., an emergency medicine physician and medical director at CareHive Health in Austin, Texas. Your heart beats 100,000 times every day, pumping about 2,000 gallons of blood. Your heart rate is simply the number of heart beats within a one-minute period.
Athletes love to check their heart rates to see if they're working as hard or backing off as much as they should be during a workout. But paying attention to your resting heart rate—that's how fast it's beating when you're relaxed, lying down, and calm —is important, too. Your heart rate is typically lowest when sleeping or otherwise inactive and then increases with physical activity.
What Is a Normal Resting Heart Rate?
A normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute.
Having a heart rate in that sweet spot is important because it decreases the demand on your heart muscle. That means it doesn’t have to work as hard as it would if it were out of that zone, explains Kate Traynor, M.S., R.N., director of Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Center at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“Think of your heart as a car and your blood's oxygen as the gas. The faster you drive, the more gas you use [the more blood that needs to be pumped]. More gas means more work for the heart, which can put it in constant overdrive,” says Traynor.
What Is Considered a Slow or Fast Heart Rate?
Fast Resting Heart Rates
A heart rate that averages above 100 beats per minute is called tachycardia. You can develop a high heart rate because of things like fever, anemia, dehydration, or physical or emotional stress, which triggers the release of the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline.
"Adrenaline is like gasoline on a fire for heart rate," says Traynor. It can also lead to bigger problems—everything from fainting spells to more serious issues like blood clots that lead to stroke, or eventual heart failure (Here's how to know if you have a blood clot).
Some research found that people with a resting heart rate at or above 84 beats per minute over the span of five years were 55 percent more likely to die of heart disease than were those with lower resting heart rates.
Slow Resting Heart Rates
On the other hand, a resting heart rate below 60 beats per minute is called bradycardia, and can cause insufficient blood flow to the brain.
"An abnormally low heart rate can lead to symptoms such as feeling tired, lightheaded, dizzy, and may even cause loss of consciousness," says Suneet Mittal, M.D, FHRS, of the Heart Rhythm Society.
There are some conditions, such as thyroid disease, that can affect how fast your heart beats, Dr. Singh says. “For people with an overactive thyroid, called hyperthyroidism, the excess amount of thyroid hormone can elevate the heart rate,” he explains. “Conversely, people with an underactive thyroid, called hypothyroidism, can have slower heart rates.”
Some medications are also known to affect the heart rate, Dr. Singh adds. Stimulants such as pseudoephedrine, a common ingredient found in decongestants, can elevate it. Beta-blockers, which are medications used to treat high blood pressure and hyperthyroidism, can act on heart rate as well and cause it to read as lower. Electrical abnormalities in the heart's pathways can also lower your resting heart rate.
But a low rate resting heart rate isn’t always a bad thing. Endurance athletes—say, cyclists or runners—can have rates below 40 beats per minute. This is because they are able to keep up with their basic metabolic requirements without the need for the heart to pump as much as the average person, Dr. Singh explains. "The heart learns to pump blood more efficiently when we exercise, which is why we recommend cardiovascular exercise," he says.
Without overdoing it, one of the best things you can do to maintain a healthy resting heart rate is exercise. You should be incorporating both cardio and weights into your routine, for a total of 150 minutes per week, says Traynor.
How Can You Find Out Your Resting Heart Rate?
Fitness trackers with heart rate monitors can be surprisingly accurate. But you don't have to rely on technology to get your numbers.
"The best way to determine your resting heart rate is to learn to take your pulse,” says Dr. Mittal. “This can be taken by palpating the pulse at your wrist or neck.”
Here's how to do it: Place your index and third fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe. If you want to check it at your wrist, place two fingers between the bone and the tendon, looking for your radial artery—which is located on the thumb side of your wrist.
Once you find your pulse, count the number of beats in 15 seconds, then multiply that number by 4 to calculate your beats a minute, according to the Mayo Clinic.
While your heart rate may vary, it's important to keep a healthy base rate. Once you know what that is for your body, keep tabs. If you start to notice changes with your heart rate, you should check in with your doctor, especially if you notice it consistently dipping way below your normal resting heart rate, or have frequent episodes of unexplained fast beating.
"If you're a regular exerciser, but start to notice your routine takes more effort, or if you're breathless or more tired than normal during your workout, it's time to see a doctor," says Traynor.
Anyone who has concerns regarding possible problems with their heart rate should seek medical attention, Dr. Singh adds. A fast heart rate will generally present as a pounding or racing heart sensation, leading you to feel generally unwell. Slow heart rates do not create any symptoms within the chest, but instead, cause people to feel weak and dizzy. In an extreme state, a low heart rate will lead to fainting or near-fainting spells. The bottom line: If you notice any of these changes, go get checked out.
Source. Yahoo news.
Let me end with the following news released by Reuters in the UK yesterday.
Cancer coalition aims to boost access to medicines in poorer countries
By Jennifer Rigby
LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Pharmaceutical companies including Novartis and Roche have teamed up with global cancer organisations in an alliance aimed at getting more oncology medications to poorer countries.
Currently, fewer than 50% of the cancer drugs on the World Health Organization's (WHO) essential medicines list are available in low and middle income countries, and the disease burden is growing. Without action, almost three in four cancer deaths are set to occur in these settings in the next decade.
In the first concrete step for the Access to Oncology Medicines (ATOM) Coalition, Novartis has licensed its blood cancer drug nilotinib to the United Nations' Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), allowing generic manufacturers to access the know-how to produce the drug at scale and at a lower cost.
Previously, the technology behind HIV drugs and COVID-19 has been shared in this way, but nilotinib is the first drug for a non-communicable disease in the pool, ATOM said.
It only has a year left on its patent, but Novartis' head of global health Lutz Hegemann said generic manufacturers had signalled it was still worthwhile.
"I think in a year there's a lot that you can try to test and this is not the only medicine that we would consider offering up," he said in an interview.
The aim of the coalition is not just to provide the drugs but also support training, diagnostics and delivery to get them to patients, the Union for International Cancer Control – a key partner – said.
The coalition begins by seeking $32 million from the private sector for its first four years of operation, and will focus initially on capacity building activities in ten lower and middle income countries, developing existing initiatives.
The Access to Medicine Foundation, which has long called out the inequality in access to drugs and care, will collaborate with the group.
"You've got some of the top minds ... the people with deep pockets, the shelves stocked with drugs .... We will be tracking progress on how this consortium delivers," said Jayasree Iyer, director of the foundation. (Reporting by Jennifer Rigby Editing by Mark Potter)
Source. Reuters.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
