Stroke does not happen overnight - Doctor reveals

Dr. Albert Akpalu, a Consultant Physician and Neurologist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, has revealed that most cases of stroke do not happen overnight, hence, a person can have a stroke for a period of time without noticing.

He said this during an interview with Nana Yaw Odame on eTV Ghana’s Men’s Lounge. Per his knowledge, one may have certain symptoms of the condition but it may be mild and disappear after some time, therefore much attention is usually not paid to it. He termed this as ‘silent stroke’ or ‘progressive stroke’.

Dr. Akpalu mentioned some of these symptoms; numbness, tingling, weakness, temporary blindness in one eye, difficulty in swallowing, among others.

He detailed, “Sometimes, you won’t even know that you’ve had a stroke till you find out you’re losing your memory, your balance, your speech, you cannot do some things that you could do before, or till a doctor does a scan for you, before you realize that you’ve had a stroke.

Weakness in one side of your body is an early sign of stroke. You could sign your signature but all of a sudden, it starts getting small, you start dropping things, you start tripping or falling, or you start to stammer when you didn’t use to, are all signs of stroke”.

He continued that as it progresses, there is now difficulty in movement, and gradually, the person breaks down fully with a stroke. Per his observation, men are mostly fond of ignoring these signs that the body gives, however, time, he said, is key, hence he advised that anyone who notices any of such signs should be sure to visit a hospital ASAP so that their treatment can be started early and their recovery made easy.