Many young people are now dying of stroke - report

According to statistics, many young people in the country are being affected by and dying of stroke, a disease that used to be common with the elderly; over 60 years.

A survey conducted by doctors at the Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals say people between the ages 25 and 45 are suffering from the disease which is characterized by paralysis.

A clinical neurologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Fred Stephen Sarfo blamed the situation on late reporting of symptoms and risk factors.

“We think that patients come to the hospital either late when they suffer the stroke or they come with very severe stroke. So it appears that we have a very severe type of stroke in that the patients tend to bleed into their brains and when they come in that stage there is really little we can do to help them. That is why see those high incidence of mortality in patients,” Dr. Fred Stephen Sarfo noted.

The doctors say in most cases, the stroke is triggered by untreated hypertension.

Dr. Fred Stephen Sarfo reiterated that “most of them come with uncontrolled hypertension” and advised people to undergo regular checks for blood-pressure.

He said persons who are detected to have high blood pressure would be put on medication to prevent them from having stroke, stating that “stroke is preventable”.

The report also noted that a major cause of hypertension which triggers stroke is unhealthy lifestyles.

Play the attached audio to listen Joy News' Beatrice Adu takes us through the personal journey of 32 year old Yaw Agyarko who has been living with the disease for some years now