'TIME IS BRAIN': ACT 'FAST' TO PREVENT STROKE - AURELIUS HOSPITAL

AS the saying goes, ‘prevention is better than cure’ so do not fret to regularly go for health screening so that an early detection of whatever illness may occur can be cured earlier before it worsen causing more complication for  treatment.

Remember ‘Time is Brain’ the faster you are diagnosed the sooner you can be treated accordingly.

That was what yours truly summarized after attending an interactive media luncheon with the management of Aurelius Hospital Nilai (AHN) headed by its Founder and Group Managing Director & Chairman of Aurelius Healthcare, Dato Amir Firdaus Abdullah,  held exclusively for selected media personnels recently.

Also present are the CEO of AHN, Joanna Tighe;  Neurointerventional Radiologist, Prof. Dr. Ahmad Sobri; Consultant Neurosurgeon, Dr. Rajendra Rao; Medical Director and Emergency Physician AHN, Dr. Terence Leslie De Silva and Adeline Abdul Ghani as the Group Director, Marketing & Corporate Communications. of Aurelius Healthcare.

For the record, Aurelius Hospital Nilai (AHN) (formally Nilai Medical Centre) located in the heart of Nilai, Negeri Sembilan was Malaysia’s first private specialist centre established in 1999.

Since joining the Aurelius Healthcare family in 2021, Nilai Medical Centre was rebranded to Aurelius Hospital Nilai. 

Incorporated in 2019, Aurelius Healthcare specialises in primary, tertiary, and quaternary healthcare management and services.

“Accommodating 100 beds, the multi-disciplinary private hospital is set to solidify its position as a comprehensive private hospital that caters to the needs of the Nilai community and beyond,”  said Amir introducing his set up of AHN during the engagement talk on the subject of ‘Time is Brain’ whilst focussing his attention to prevalence of stroke in young adults and children.

Continuing matters on Stroke, Dr Rajendra in his talk defines STROKE as ‘rapidly developing clinical signs of focal (or global) disturbance of cerebral function, with symptoms lasting 24 hours or longer or leading to death, with no apparent cause other than of vascular origin“ .

According to Dr. Rajendra, there are three kinds of stroke - Ischemic Stroke. Hemorrhagic Stroke and Tia Stroke, out of which all can be detected earlier when its symptom occurs.

“Younger adults at the age between 18-50 are 10-15% prone to the risk of getting Ischemic stroke,” added Dr. Rajendra citing two forms of risk factors -  traditional and unique.

His advice - there is treatment for STROKE if you act FAST an abbreviation for Face, Arm, Speech and Time.

“Always investigate before you assume and whenever in doubt, ask opinion,” added Dr. Rajendra whilst repeatedly saying that one should  always overinvestigate and never assume.

On that same note, continuing further, Dr Terence in his talk on ‘Recognition of Stroke and Activation of Emergency Response System ‘Time Is Brain’ said, “A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot or burst (ruptures).”

When it happens, he continued, part of the brain cannot get the blood and oxygen it needs, so it and brain cells die.

According to Dr. Terence, stroke is caused either by a clot obstructing the flow of blood to the brain (called an ischemic stroke - 87%) or by a blood vessel rupturing and preventing blood flow to the brain (called a hemorrhgic stroke -13%). 

“A Tia transient ischemic attack or mini stroke is caused by a temporaty clot and those who falls into this group are more luckier as it is an early sign of stroke and once detect can be treated soonest,” said Dr. Terence.

Citing three signs of  early stroke detection namely facial drop, arm drift and abnormal speech, Dr Terence said,”If any one of these three signs is abnormal, the probability of a stroke is 72%.”

According to him, once any of those signs occured the pre-hospital care that should be taken is to act BEFAST as  described below:

“Yes, its time to call an ambulance but know where your stroke centre is and in between keep the patient ‘nil by mouth’ and do not give them water or whatsowver to swallow as it may cause further complication leading to death and if the patient is down roll them to a recovery position,” added Dr. Terence reminding families of patient to know the appropriate care hospital to be taken when calling for an ambulance.

Reassured that Aurelius Hospital caters for the needs for emergency cases providing ambulance with profesional nurses and staff, Dr. Terence continued to say as ‘Time is Brain’ each patient that is brought in will be treated immediately.

“All other factors like registration and payment comes secondary after the patient is treated. We do not wait until all matters for registration and monetary are settled first before treatment begins,” said Dr. Terrence.

Reconfirming the statement,  Dato Amir continued to add, “Our policy is patient’s life is our priority, any set backs on money matters can be sorted later. We have instalment plans if patients are not covered by insurance or even if they have monetary problem we will handled it accordingly and affordably to them.What is important is saving lifes.”

The session ends with Prof Dr. Sobri who then take centre stage with his topic on 'Advancement in Stroke Diagnosis & Treatment.

And below is a brief introduction of his involvement with Aurelius Hospital:

So, readers, do not fear, if you are not satisfied with the current hospital you are in why not give  a try to Aurelise Hospital Nilai and experience its services as its slogan says - To Breathe, To Think, To Care, To Love’.

For more information do visit its website HERE or call 06-8505 000. 

#AureliusHospitalNilai  #Stroke #AureliusHealthCare #TimeIsBrain #Illness #fyp