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It also hits younger patients with stroke at age 29
Although it is considered a disease of seniors, but also young people suffer a stroke. Although the symptoms are the same in all age groups, younger people often wait for weeks for a diagnosis because they are often not expected to have a stroke.
Stroke also affects young people
A few years ago, a study was published in the journal "The Lancet", which showed that young people are increasingly affected by a stroke. At that time, the German Stroke Society (DSG) and the German Neurological Society (DGN) had pointed out that about every 20th stroke occurs in a child or adolescent. Although the symptoms are the same in all age groups, stroke is often recognized late in young people. But quick action is vital in the stroke. A recent news agency dpa reports on the fate of a young person affected.
Not only seniors, but also younger people can suffer a stroke. In young patients, the diagnosis often takes much longer. (Image: Syda Productions / fotolia.com) 270,000 strokes per year
The impairment of Claudia B. is barely noticed by strangers. But if the 34-year-old needs a little longer at the supermarket checkout or slips her money through, the people behind her often get impatient. "You do not see it at first glance, but I'm limited," said the woman living near Karlsruhe. "I have no feeling on the right side of the body. I can go and grab, but sometimes I'm a bit down. "Five years ago - at the age of 29 - Claudia B. had a stroke. According to dpa, it is one of the annually estimated 10,000 to 40,000 people in Germany, who already at younger age - so under 50 - suffer a stroke. Nationwide, around 270,000 people suffer a stroke each year.
Most common reason for permanent disability
As explained in the report, strokes are caused by circulatory disorders of the brain, which are caused in about 80 percent of cases by a blockage of blood vessels (ischemic). Bleeding into the brain tissue is less common (haemorrhagic). According to DSG spokesman Joachim Röther, strokes in Germany are the third leading cause of death and the most common cause of permanent disability. As the chief neurologist at Asklepios Clinic Altona explained, the risk of stroke generally increases exponentially with age. This is because the risk factors increase with the number of years of life. These include, inter alia, atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, high blood lipid levels, overweight and obesity or the consequences of decades of smoking.
Recognize symptoms in good time and save lives
Of particular importance is to recognize stroke symptoms in good time and to save lives. The German Stroke Help has developed a special stroke app for this, which is available free of charge. As Ulf Bodechtel, chief physician of the Bavaria clinic in Kreischa, Saxony, explained in the agency report, the diagnosis is generally more difficult in young patients. If older people who suddenly have speech problems or paralysis appear to have a stroke, younger people often wait a long time for the diagnosis. "Although the symptoms are identical in all age groups, older people tend to think of it," says Bodechtel. In younger patients, the disease is sometimes diagnosed only after weeks.
"That only affects older people"
This was also the case with Claudia B. The pharmaceutical technical assistant initially had extreme headaches, which were worse than the migraine she knew. She was sick at first, but the complaints that came in batches, were worse: "After ten days I noticed that my right side was paralyzed, and I could not set more bring out," said the woman to a neurologist and then in a clinic was further directed, in a study by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) finally brought the diagnosis: stroke by a so-called dissection, which is einblutet into the vessel wall and tearing the inner wall of a blood vessel. The vessel is subsequently narrowed or may close. "The diagnosis of stroke was a shock," said Claudia B. "Until then, I thought that only affects older people." After the diagnosis she had to stay in the hospital and immediately came to a stroke unit - a stroke station. After seven days in the clinic, her speech disorder had disappeared, but the half-sided paralysis was not.
Effortless way back to life
As for many other patients, Claudia B. began a painstaking journey back to life. She spent a total of 18 weeks in a rehab clinic. Although both stroke symptoms and therapy and type of rehab are similar in all age groups, young people have a better prognosis. "In older people, the goal is often to avoid or reduce the need for care," said Bodechtel. "Younger, however, you want to integrate back into working life. Patients often do so more rehabs, to achieve the best result. "The transition from the inpatient rehabilitation in which they are cared for throughout the day, to outpatient care, if only occasionally a therapist comes is stressful for many people. "After the inpatient rehab, many fall into a hole," says Röther. Claudia B. is still impaired, but: "I've accepted that things are not so easy anymore and that I have to accept help." She also still notes that people waiting at the grocery store are annoyed when they pay a bit longer to pay needs. "But I do not care about that now." (Ad)