Pay attention to the 'golden' time to save stroke patients

Stroke due to cerebral embolism and angina due to myocardial infarction are two very high risks of death and disability. With the advancement of medicine, in which the use of anticoagulants and endovascular intervention have saved the lives of many patients.

Regular cardiovascular check-ups are needed to monitor heart health. In the photo: echocardiogram for a patient at Hoa Hao General Clinic, Ho Chi Minh City - Illustration: NCT

However, patients must receive medical emergency treatment early, within the "golden time" to get the expected results.

Weak heart and brain are very dangerous.

Stroke is a condition in which the brain is damaged due to pathology: vascular occlusion causing ischemia (cerebral infarction, cerebral softening) accounts for 71%, hemorrhage (cerebral blood vessel rupture) accounts for 26% and other causes account for the remaining 3%. The older you are, the greater the risk of stroke.

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability, and is the third leading cause of death in adults, after cancer and heart disease.

According to Professor Stephen Davis - President of the World Stroke Organization, every year there are 16 million stroke cases globally and about 6 million deaths. In Vietnam, according to the Ministry of Health, there are more than 200,000 stroke cases per year, cerebral infarction accounts for 70-80% and the mortality rate is still high.

Meanwhile, in the circulatory system, the heart is the pump, pushing blood to nourish the entire body. The heart's "pump" itself is also provided by the coronary artery system, which consists of two branches, originating from the root of the aorta, bringing blood to nourish the heart muscle.

When the coronary arteries are narrowed due to spasm or atherosclerosis, the amount of blood that nourishes the heart muscle will be insufficient, causing coronary artery disease: ischemic cardiomyopathy, coronary insufficiency or coronary failure. If the atherosclerotic plaque breaks off, the vessel wall is damaged, bleeding forms a blood clot causing sudden coronary artery occlusion or myocardial infarction.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that every year 2.5 million people die from myocardial infarction, of which 25% die in the acute stage of the disease and another 5-10% die the following year.

The "golden" time to save the brain and heart

Nerve cells and neurons are very sensitive to lack of oxygen and nutrients. When a stroke occurs, the brain area that lacks blood supply will stop functioning and “die” within a few seconds to a few minutes. In a stroke caused by a large artery blockage, about 2 million neurons will die every minute. The level of sequelae depends largely on detection and treatment. If you go to the hospital within the first 3 hours, you will recover well.

With the advancement of medicine, the mortality rate due to stroke has decreased. The endovascular intervention method of the American Stroke Association (2015) is applied by many countries, including Vietnam, with an effectiveness of up to 80%. However, endovascular emergency intervention is only effective if performed early, within the "golden hour", after 6 hours it will no longer be effective.

In Vietnam, knowledge about the "golden hour" (the first 3-4 hours from the onset of a stroke) is not widely known, so many patients are disabled due to sequelae.

But for the heart, time is even more urgent. World research has shown that from the time a patient shows signs of angina or collapse to the time of coronary intervention within 2 hours is the best time, with the highest survival rate, this is the "golden time" to save the heart.

Many cardiologists estimate that for every 30 minutes delay in reperfusion of acute myocardial infarction, the risk of death after 1 year increases by 8%. Unfortunately, in Vietnam, many patients come to the hospital too late to be saved or are left with serious sequelae.

With the advancement of medicine, the mortality rate from stroke and myocardial infarction has decreased significantly compared to before. Therefore, when there is a stroke patient, do not try to give first aid out of habit, especially using "folk" techniques, traditional medicine by word of mouth... which will waste the patient's precious time, but should immediately take the patient to a medical center.

Theo Tuoitre