Stroke kills, maims 200,000 yearly

“We think almost 200,000 Nigerians suffer stroke each year,” said Dr Biodun Ogungbo, neurosurgeon with the group Stroke Assembly. “Half of those people  die each year. The rest of them are becoming disabled.”His warning came as the Stroke Action, after a presidential flagoff, in collaboration with the federal health ministry started to raise awareness about […]

“We think almost 200,000 Nigerians suffer stroke each year,” said Dr Biodun Ogungbo, neurosurgeon with the group Stroke Assembly. “Half of those people  die each year. The rest of them are becoming disabled.”
His warning came as the Stroke Action, after a presidential flagoff, in collaboration with the federal health ministry started to raise awareness about stroke and how exercising can help stave off its onset.
Hundreds of individuals and members of the Stroke Action coalition which specialize in cardiovascular medicine ran and walked from Millennium Park in Central Abuja for hours Saturday morning.
“The key thing is that stroke is killing Nigerians. Every single Nigerian knows somebody, either within their own family or in the street or close to them in their neighbourhood who has suffered from a stroke,” said Dr Ogungbo.
Experts suggest regular exercise-[brisk] walking, dancing, running for fixed durations weekly-to keep the body fit.
“Every Nigerian must get up, off their backside and do something against stroke,” noted the brain and spine surgeon. “You have to prevent stroke for yourself. Each person must take personal responsibility in their own home to prevent stroke.”
“And if stroke is happening in your family, it means that everybody in that family has a risk of developing a stroke. You need to get up, walk, dance, do something.”
Rita Melifonwu, head of Stroke Action, said the group consisted of stroke survivors and volunteer medical and non-medical personnel teaming up with authorities to raise awareness about stroke.
The researchers urged that risk factors-including hypertension, diabetics, other cardiovascular events-that can be modified should be “aggressively addressed to reduce the burden of stroke in our society.”