The UK government today unveiled a new national stroke strategy aimed at saving almost 7,000 lives a year and preventing much severe disability.

10-year plan to reduce stroke deaths

Extract from The Guardian:

"The government today unveiled a new national stroke strategy aimed at saving almost 7,000 lives a year and preventing many more people from becoming permanently disabled.

Stroke - a blood clot or bleeding in the brain - is the cause of 50,000 deaths a year, and many more are left disabled by it.

It is a bigger killer of women than breast cancer, but has been the poor relation of some other high-profile diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, when it comes to prevention and treatment.

The 10-year strategy aims to redress the imbalance by raising public awareness of the early signs of stroke as well as speeding up access to brain scans and drug treatment. The measures could prevent up to 6,800 deaths each year.

The health minister, Alan Johnson, will today set out a 10-year plan designed to ensure that urgent action is taken to identify those at risk of a major stroke and ensure preventive action and much faster treatment.

The strategy calls for fast access to MRI scans for those suffering mini strokes - known as transient ischaemic attacks - which provide a strong indication that someone will, at some point, have a full stroke.

Anyone at high risk of a full stroke because of their age, blood pressure or other factors who suffers a minor stroke must be given an MRI scan within 24 hours. Low-risk individuals must have a scan within seven days.

This will require a substantial improvement on existing services. Currently, less than 35% of hospitals provide a scan within seven days, whatever the patient's level of risk.

However, speeding up the response in this way could prevent 80% of full strokes."

Reducing salt/sodium intake is a simple way to reduce your risk of a stroke.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

Wider implications of the flawed theory that excess calorie intake causes obesity

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.