Free Check-ups to Mark World Stroke Day

The initiative comes as part of the meeting arranged for world stroke organisations that will get together today to highlight the importance of recognising, treating and preventing strokes, and in particular ‘silent strokes’.

According to one of Germany’s top neurologists, raising awareness is even more important in the UAE, where stroke ranks second only to heart disease in the UAE as the biggest cause of death and is the most common cause of lifelong disability worldwide.

GNP’s Dr Arne Brosig stresses awareness created through World Stroke Day can be the difference between life and death. The World Stroke Day 2008 theme is ‘little strokes, big trouble’.

Silent stroke, is a brain injury likely caused by a blood clot interrupting blood flow in the brain. It is silent since it has no symptoms, but doctors can detect brain damage through brain imaging tests. Silent stroke is a risk factor for future strokes and a sign of progressive brain damage that may result in long term dementia. Dr Brosig said: “Strokes are thought of by many as a medical problem that only happens to people who are perhaps old, weak, but this is far from the case.