May is National Stroke Awareness Month, and according to the Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services, stroke is the sixth leading cause of death in the state and can cause significant morbidities — or complications that can impact quality of life.
Dr. Balint Otvos, a neurosurgeon at University of Missouri Health Care, said some of the most common signs of stroke are vision changes, facial drooping and numbness on one side of the body.
"Seconds count, but also, minutes count."Dr. Balint Otvos
"Hospitals [are] never closed for people with heart attacks and for people with strokes,” Dr. Otvos said. “So, you never need to worry about inconveniencing us. If you see any symptoms, get it checked out as quickly as you can."
Risk factors for stroke include age, diabetes and high blood pressure, lack of exercise and smoking.
Quick and immediate action is needed when it is suspected someone is experiencing a stroke, but Dr. Otvos said the best way to prevent a stroke is to regularly see your primary care physician.
“I would love to say that there's some other magic bullet, but honestly, we are all indebted to the primary care physicians,” Dr. Otvos said. “Because they notice problems before they become problems, and we can head them off at the pass.”
Common symptoms of stroke include sudden vision changes, dizziness and numbness on one side of the body.
"The problem with strokes isn't even necessarily that they are uniformly fatal – because they're not – the problem is people have very, very high rates of morbidity if their strokes are left untreated."Dr. Balint Otvos
If you suspect you or someone you know is having a stroke, immediately call 911.
Rebecca Smith: Just to start us off today, could you tell us about any particular groups that are at risk?
Dr. Balint Otvos: As we get older, our risk increases. Lifestyle changes, such as, you know, diet, lack of exercise, sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and prior history — all kinds of can contribute to the risk of having strokes.
And the problem with strokes isn't even necessarily that they are uniformly fatal — because they're not. The problem is people have very, very high rates of morbidity if their strokes are left untreated.
"The best thing we can do is try to prevent strokes, honestly, from happening."Dr. Balint Otvos
Meaning they no longer can move one side of their body, they no longer can speak.
In fact, you know, when you talk to elder populations, most of them will actually tell you that they are more afraid of being debilitated than they are actually of dying.
Rebecca Smith: What are the things they should be looking out for?
Dr. Balint Otvos: Probably the most important thing to do is make sure you're able to go to your primary care physician. You're able to see them regularly and have them check you annually.
Because, you know, when I see people with strokes, it's kind of when they're already having one, and we're kind of trying to, you know, the cat's already out of the bag, and we're trying to kind of mitigate the symptoms and kind of reverse some of the effects.
But the best thing we can do is try to prevent strokes, honestly, from happening.
Strokes present with vision changes, numbness on one side of the body, a facial droop, dizziness, passing out a weakness on one side of the body, that's kind of what we're looking for when someone has a stroke.
Rebecca Smith: Yeah, for people who, you know, may be apprehensive about seeking out help or apprehensive about things like, you know, emergency room visit bills – what would you say to them are the consequences of delaying treatment, if it actually is a stroke?
Dr. Balint Otvos: A stroke is just like a heart attack that we do things to try to reverse the condition.
And from a monetary perspective, as being a comprehensive stroke center, we get funding from the government to take care of patients, so that they're not gonna be burdened with the 10, 20, 30 thousand dollar hospital bills.
Because it's not just the emergency room bill, it's also, you know, staying in the hospital, staying in the intensive care unit, going to rehab afterward.
The consequence of not seeking proper treatment is that you may not be able to move one side of your body, you may not be able to talk for the rest of your life, and that may be 20, 30, 40 years.
"When you talk to elder populations, most of them will actually tell you that they are more afraid of being debilitated than they are actually of dying."Dr. Balint Otvos
And so, as crazy as it sounds, I'm not as worried about mortality, I'm worried about the morbidity that is also associated with untreated strokes.
And if you come in and you don't have a stroke – that's really good news.
Because we'd rather have you come in, get tested, we rule it out, rather than the other way around that say, “Oh, well, you know what, I just have a little bit of weakness, it's going to go away by the morning or go away by tomorrow,” and by that point, that neurologic injury may be permanent.
Rebecca Smith: What would your message be to those living in our catchment, you know, 30, 40, 50 miles away from the nearest health care facility, about what they should be looking for, about, you know, what they can do in that interim of getting to a health care center?
Dr. Balint Otvos: You know, I would just say that, you know, seconds count, but also, minutes count.
And so, you know, the rural hospitals may not have all the fancy gadgets that we have here, you know, in the mothership. That doesn't mean, necessarily, that they can do anything. They can still give medications that can help open up blood vessels.
In fact, earlier this weekend, a patient came in that was given medicine at an outside hospital and they are already improving because of the clot busting medication that they were given in a small community hospital before they ever got here.
You know, we can use helicopters, we can use ambulances to transfer you to the main center, if needed, but the sooner we can give medicines, the sooner we can give any type of treatment, the better off the result is going to be.
