A province-wide campaign to increase awareness of the symptoms of stroke—as well as the importance of getting immediate medical treatment—was unveiled yesterday morning in Thunder Bay.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, will kick off the new campaign featuring spokesperson Walter Gretzky this coming Monday (Sept. 29).
A recent survey conducted by the HSFO found nearly one-third of Ontarians over the age of 45 could not name one of the five warning signs of stroke.
They are the sudden onset of dizziness, headache, vision problems, weakness, and trouble speaking.
Only 20-25 percent of people having a stroke get medical attention within three hours of the onset of the stroke, which is considered the critical time for treatment.
The ministry hopes to improve these numbers with TV advertisements and public education through so-called regional stroke centres.
Last September, the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital was designated as the Northwestern Ontario Regional Stroke Centre—one of nine RSCs across the province.
“In the past five to 10 years, a series of advances in several areas have provided effective measures for stroke prevention and its treatment,” Dr. David Howse, medical director of the RSC in Thunder Bay, said during a videoconference yesterday morning that was beamed to La Verendrye Hospital here and attended by local media.
One of these advances is the drug t-PA, or tissue plasminogen activator, which belongs to the family of drugs that breaks down blood clots.
“t-PA, given within three hours of the onset of a stroke, can reverse or minimize the neurological effects of stroke,” Dr. Howse said.
This drug only is appropriate in the case of ischemic strokes, or those caused by a blood clots, which account for about 80 percent of all strokes.
If administered to a person suffering a hemorrhagic stroke, one caused by uncontrolled bleeding in the brain, which accounts for about 20 percent of strokes, the drug could make things worse.
Only a CT scan can determine what is causing a stroke—and the only CT scanner in Northwestern Ontario is in Thunder Bay.
While the new treatment will not be available to residents in Rainy River District or any other community more than three hours’ away from Thunder Bay, the RSC also will provide education to the public on how to reduce the risk of stroke.
In Northwestern Ontario, about 150 people die from stroke each year.
“There is a higher mortality and morbidity rate in Northwestern Ontario from stroke,” Dr. Howse said, comparing this region to the rest of Ontario.
But he added it was more likely the result of increased risk factors—such as a higher rate of smoking and diabetes—rather than the result of a lack of access to proper care.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
