Kiko Rivera, the son of Isabel Pantoja, was admitted urgently at around three in the morning at the Virgen del Rocío hospital in Seville, after suffering a stroke. A very serious disease and that today is the second cause of death in Western countries.
At the moment the evolution of Kiko Rivera seems to be good, and as Irene Rosales declared this afternoon: “he is very young and thank God he has a solution.”
But although everything indicates that it can be a scare, and hopefully it will be so, we are facing a very serious disease and we must be very prudent.
The first 24 hours are key and Kiko Rivera must spend them under rigorous observation.
What is a stroke?
When we talk about stroke we refer to any episode in which blood flow to the brain is interrupted.
It is something so serious that according to statistics today it is the second cause of death in Western countries and the first in women.
- In Spain, every six minutes someone suffers a stroke.
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And one in four people over the age of 25 will suffer a stroke throughout their lives, according to the Spanish Society of Neurology.
Besides, the sequelae of this cerebrovascular disease are the first reason for acquired disability in the adult.
The most frequent cause of this pathology is what we call ischemic stroke, that is, the appearance of a clot in one of the vessels that supply blood.
But how do you explain the Dr. Maria Alonso de Leciñanacoordinator of the Study Group of Cerebrovascular Diseases of the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN), “it can also be caused by the breakage of any of the vessels, causing hemorrhage. And in this case it will be a hemorrhagic stroke”.
Chilling facts
The data on the incidence of this brain injury are very bulky and not at all reassuring.
Around the world, about 14 million people will have a stroke this year. and, as a result, 5.5 million people will die. More than one in three affected.
Furthermore, current trends suggest that If actions are not carried out to prevent it, the number of annual strokes will increase by 35% and that of deaths by 39%.
In other words, it can reach 17.5-18 million new cases per year, which will mean approximately 7-8 million deaths per year.
In Spain, According to data provided by the Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) on the occasion of World Stroke Day, which is celebrated every October 29, some 110,000 people suffer a stroke every year., of which at least 15% will die. And among the survivors, around 30% will remain in a situation of functional dependency.
reaction speed
One of the peculiarities of this pathology is that attention time is vital.
As they explain from the SEN, for every minute that blood circulation in the brain stops or decreases, 1.9 million neurons and 14 trillion neural connections are lost. And one hour supposes a brain aging of 3.6 years and a loss of 120 million neurons.
So we are talking about a medical emergency, in which the evolution and the prognosis depend to a great extent on the time in which it takes in caring for the patient.
Symptoms
Therefore, it is very important to recognize the symptoms that warn of a stroke:
- loss of strength Sudden swelling of the face, arm, and/or leg on one side of the body.
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The sudden speech disturbance with difficulty expressing themselves or understanding what the patient tells us.
- Sudden loss of partial or total vision in one or both eyes.
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Sudden headache of unusual intensity and without apparent cause.
In the event of any of these signs, we must immediately call the emergency services and, in no case, transfer the patient to a medical center by our own means.
Prevention
But no matter how complicated it is to suffer a stroke, there is data in favor of up to 90% of cases could be prevented with adequate control of risk factors modifiable symptoms of this disease.
Existing scientific evidence on stroke reveals that tobacco addiction It is one of the factors that most affect these cerebrovascular accidents. In fact, smokers have double the risk of suffering an ischemic stroke and between two and four times the risk of suffering a hemorrhagic stroke.
It has been calculated that after one year of quitting tobacco, the risk of stroke is reduced by half, and that at five years the risk equals that of non-smokers.
But not only tobacco, but also excessive alcohol consumption It is associated, above all, with an increased risk of hemorrhagic strokes.
Other risk factors are chronic stress, obesity, and even air pollutionto which 21% of deaths from stroke are already attributed.
So the most advisable thing to prevent this type of injury is to avoid these factors as much as possible.
But also, Dr. Alonso de Leciñana, from the SEN, recommends following a Mediterranean diet low in salt, rich in fruits and vegetablesand supplemented with the consumption of olive oil and nuts.
And, of course, the regular practice of physical activity, since doing 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week or 75 minutes of more vigorous activities, you can reduce your risk of stroke.