Stroke Anyone can hit it

Stroke can also affect young people

05/10/2014

In Germany there are about 270,000 strokes a year. One of those affected was Thomas Masztalerz, who had a so-called cerebral infarction in his early thirties and had to fight his way back to life. More and more young people are affected by such a stroke of fate.

Stroke with early 30's
In Germany, one person dies of a stroke every nine minutes. In total, there are about 270,000 strokes a year in Germany. According to various press reports, Thomas Masztalerz also suffered a so-called cerebral infarction in his early thirties and had to laboriously struggle back to life. It was the 14th of July two years ago that he will not forget. The sports enthusiast Masztalerz from Hanau-Steinheim, at that time an active handball player, remembers: „It happened at home with strength exercises, and I had probably drunk too little.“ Stroke was triggered by thrombosis in a jugular vein. The rapid alerting of emergency services by 112 was life-saving for the then 31-year-old man. In this context, it should be mentioned how important it is that even lay people can identify a stroke as quickly as possible. Everyone should recognize the following symptoms as an emergency situation: numbness and paralysis (such as drooping corners of the mouth), vision problems, speech / comprehension difficulties, as well as headache and dizziness.

Decisive are the first hours
For the time being, he found himself in a wheelchair that summer, but thanks to intensive physiotherapy, he can now work in Maintal as a prospective primary school teacher. In addition, the methodology officer in the local handball district trains young talents today. After initial treatment at the Hanau Hospital, he was followed by a two-week inpatient stay at the Stroke Unit of the Frankfurt University Hospital. Stroke units are special stations on which stroke victims are cared for in the first few days. The crucial factor here is always the first few hours, as experts do not tire of stressing.

Holistic concept in the foreground
Afterwards, the patient switched to rehab. For now, the initial situation was rather depressing: paralyzed on one side, handicapped by severe speech problems and severe concentration problems. „But the entire treatment chain has taken hold“, so Masztalerz. Still in the rehabilitation clinic the contact to physiotherapist Helmut Gruhn of the Perception house in Hainburg could be made. Gruhn developed in 2003 an ambulatory stroke intensive rehabilitation, the „Back to life concept“, the goal is to create the conditions for the independent everyday life of patients and to enable them to return to a contented life. The individual needs and wishes of the person concerned are at the forefront of the holistic concept. The intrinsic activity of the patient forms the core of the therapeutic process.

Patient with iron discipline
The physiotherapist works on this „Bobath“-Concept, in which an attempt is made, by constantly repeating certain movements again in the brain again „anchor“. Brain cells are supposed to take over their function in the vicinity of the damaged area. „As with a child who is learning to walk, we practice the procedures“, explained Gruhn. This activates the receptors in the brain, so that at some point the movements were automated again. When the physiotherapist met Masztalerz, he started to walk again. „He was very depressed at our first meeting, no wonder“, so Gruhn. Six days a week, with iron discipline, the patient faced up to all tasks, not only to restore his physical ability to move, but also to be able to speak again and gradually participate in everyday life.

Stroke also affects young people
Masztalerz is still in rehabilitative treatment. He is there three to four times a week and wants to gradually reduce the degree of disability severity by 60 percent. Even Masztalerz would never have thought that just he could suffer a stroke. He was young, active in sports, never smoked and did not drink. However, even if the disease was previously associated with an increased age, younger and younger people are increasingly affected by stroke, as an evaluation in the context of „Global Burden of Disease“-Study, a joint project of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Thus, about every 20th stroke occurs in a child or adolescent. However, the success story of Thomas Masztalerz is not the rule. According to figures from the German Stroke Assistance, about 64 percent of the surviving patients remain in need of care one year later. (Ad)