1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: A National Stroke Week. It runs from today the fifth 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: of the eleventh of August and aims to encourage the 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: community to know the signs of stroke and the risk 4 00:00:10,760 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: factors too. Very important idea say Kelvin Hill is National 5 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,160 Speaker 1: Manager of Stroke Treatment. It's the Stroke Foundation of Australia. Calvin, 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:19,319 Speaker 1: good morning, thanks for your time. 7 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 2: Good morning, Matthew. 8 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:26,040 Speaker 1: So obviously there's the signs of stroke and they go 9 00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: by the way of fast, the initials. What should people 10 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:29,760 Speaker 1: be looking out for? 11 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 2: Well, this Stroke Week, we really want people to know 12 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 2: what FAST sounds like because it's such a common disease 13 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:42,760 Speaker 2: that we want family members and colleagues and everyone, oh 14 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 2: the most common signs of stroke and be able to 15 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 2: recognize because time is brain for stroke. So yeah, fast 16 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 2: it stands for the three most common signs of stroke 17 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 2: and we can go into that and then T stands 18 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,800 Speaker 2: the time because it's critical that people get to hospital 19 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 2: and get treatment because we have some great, great treatments 20 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 2: now and you can actually live well after a stroke. 21 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:10,279 Speaker 1: Okay, well as long as you get there quickly. 22 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 2: Correct all right. 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: So the fast part of it or the tea is time, 24 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: but the F is face. So you look for whether 25 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: the face is dropping on one side, presumably whether the 26 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: arms can be raised, and slurring of speech. 27 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,080 Speaker 2: That's correct, And all three of those relate to the 28 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 2: muscles in various parts of the body, So even from 29 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 2: the facial muscle muscles to the muscles that help us speak. 30 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 2: And so that sort of paralysis or weakness after stroke 31 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,399 Speaker 2: in arms, legs, or those other parts of your body 32 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 2: is the most common signs of stroke. There are others, 33 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 2: but they're the most common. About eighty percent of all 34 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 2: strokes have one or more of those symptoms. And that's 35 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 2: why FAST is really just a simple message that we 36 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:52,600 Speaker 2: want people to know. 37 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: Okay, more than eighty percent of strokes can be prevented, 38 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: I understand. So what are the ways of doing that? 39 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,600 Speaker 1: What are the risk factors? I suppose what causes the stroke? 40 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:06,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, the leading cause of stroke is actually high blood pressure. 41 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 2: And what we know is that about half of people 42 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 2: with high blood pressure in the community don't know it 43 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 2: because it's you don't really have a lot of symptoms 44 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 2: unless it's really excessively high or very very low in 45 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,560 Speaker 2: more uncommon ways. So blood pressure is the leading cause 46 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 2: or leading risk factors for stroke. And then like other 47 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 2: cardiovascular diseases, all of the lifestyle. So our diet, our exercise, 48 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 2: cholesterol levels relates to our diet, excessive alcohol, all of 49 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,120 Speaker 2: those things fact factor in and they're the things that 50 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,280 Speaker 2: we do have control over and can change. There are 51 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 2: some unique ones to stroke, like an irregular heartbeat called 52 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 2: atrial fibrillation that can cause a stroke by pulling in 53 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 2: the heart, but the others really are just if we 54 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 2: reduce our increase our attention to our lifestyle, we actually 55 00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 2: will reduce strokes, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers, the 56 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:08,519 Speaker 2: whole range of benefits. Yeah. 57 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: Indeed, that's key, isn't it. So a stroke is a 58 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: block blood vessel essentially, is that right to the brain? 59 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 2: Stroke is yeah, so I thought everything to do with 60 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 2: the brain, So like a heart attack, but in the brain. 61 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 2: So it's a blockage or a burst of the arteries 62 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:26,760 Speaker 2: in the brain, meaning that meaning that the supply of 63 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 2: blood to the nutrition in part of your brain stops 64 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,080 Speaker 2: and that those cells die quite quickly, and it happens 65 00:03:34,120 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 2: within seconds and minutes, And that's why the time is critical. 66 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: Could we get to the point where as you walk 67 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: around a city, you see the heart defibrillators around the place. 68 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: Is there a stroke kish in case somebody's having a 69 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,560 Speaker 1: stroke that you know, you could put out on stoby 70 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: poles and the like. 71 00:03:56,040 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's great, be nice, wouldn't it. But there's some 72 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 2: really exciting research that's happening and in Australia that's leading 73 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 2: in the world. And that's let me just take a 74 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 2: step back. There's two common causes or types of stroke, 75 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 2: and the schemic stroke is the blockage, so the build 76 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 2: up and it stops blood from flowing through the artery, 77 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:22,160 Speaker 2: and that's the most common, it's about three quarters or 78 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 2: eighty percent of strokes. But in the other percent is 79 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 2: a hemorrhagic stroke, so that's where it's bleeding. So you 80 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 2: can have a birth vessel in the brain, commonly with 81 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:38,719 Speaker 2: high blood pressure, but sometimes with the way the arteries 82 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,360 Speaker 2: are formed, there can be malformations in there and that 83 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 2: can burst. And the treatments for those two types of 84 00:04:44,839 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 2: stroke are very different. So the advances that are happening 85 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 2: now is actually really really small brain scanners that we 86 00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 2: hope within a few years will be in the back 87 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,279 Speaker 2: of every ambulance across the country and in our flying 88 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 2: ambulance systems. So that will enable us very early on 89 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 2: to get a really quick scan of the brain, determine 90 00:05:07,400 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 2: which of those two causes a stroke, and then start 91 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 2: the treatments really with telehealth and linking with the services. 92 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 2: As the ambulance brings the patient to the hospital, they 93 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 2: can be initiating that treatment. And that's that's going to 94 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 2: revolutionize stroke. 95 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: Ken got a great question here on the time factor, Robert. 96 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,239 Speaker 1: Somebody asking on the text line by time and speed, 97 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: do you mean what within the hour? 98 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, so the common so if it's a blockage, again, 99 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,719 Speaker 2: the common treatment is a drug that needs to be 100 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:43,679 Speaker 2: given within commonly four and a half hours after stroke. 101 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 2: So we're talking about every minute counts. And we know 102 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:53,160 Speaker 2: that if patients get the hospital every fifteen minutes quicker 103 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 2: starting treatment means that four percent four and one hundred 104 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,560 Speaker 2: people get to walk out of hospital rather than being 105 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,359 Speaker 2: in a nursing home, for example, and four people less die. 106 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 2: So time is like, it's minutes really that make a 107 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:09,839 Speaker 2: huge difference. 108 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, and some of the risk factors you mention are 109 00:06:13,279 --> 00:06:16,800 Speaker 1: age related. But stroke is not uncommon in younger people, 110 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: is it. 111 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 2: No, it isn't. And we've got about twenty twenty four 112 00:06:25,560 --> 00:06:31,240 Speaker 2: What is it? Yeah, twenty four percent of people under 113 00:06:31,279 --> 00:06:34,599 Speaker 2: the age of fifty four years old have a stroke 114 00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 2: in Australia and importantly that percentage is increasing. So overall 115 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 2: we're actually doing better in treating the risk factors for 116 00:06:44,240 --> 00:06:47,240 Speaker 2: stroke and stroke what's called incidents or the numbers of 117 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 2: strokes is actually going down, but in the younger age 118 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 2: group it's actually slightly going up. So we're having strokes 119 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:01,280 Speaker 2: younger and unfortunately that we want to revert. 120 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: Why is that, Why is that happening? Is that perhaps 121 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: more and I'll speculate, is it recreational drug use? 122 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 2: That's a very very small percentage. Yes, there is a 123 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 2: link between drug use and stroke. No, we think it's 124 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:22,600 Speaker 2: more to do with the diabetes and you know, numbers 125 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 2: of people with diabetes and obesity. So the you know, 126 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 2: the news over the last ten years has been we're 127 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,400 Speaker 2: actually you know, with the rise of different processed food 128 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 2: or whatever else, we're actually more obese and that's impacting 129 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 2: people at a younger age and so they're having you know, cardiovaction, 130 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 2: not just strokes, but heart attacks at a younger age 131 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 2: as well. 132 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: True, that's concerning, isn't it. That's terrible, Kelvin, really appreciate 133 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: your time this morning. It's such an important message and 134 00:07:53,160 --> 00:07:56,480 Speaker 1: national stroke. We're raising awareness of it and particularly those 135 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: risk factors which on the whole for many are self imposed. 136 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: Look after yourself and you should be okay, is the 137 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: moral of the story. 138 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 2: Well, that's right. And also with our mates and with 139 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:11,720 Speaker 2: our friends and our family members, keep an eye out 140 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 2: for them and actually prompt and encourage them to be 141 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 2: wide with their lifestyle as well, and do it together 142 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:20,320 Speaker 2: with that accountability. It makes a difference. 143 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: Yeah, and remember fast face, arm, speech and time, and 144 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:29,239 Speaker 1: as you say, it's just staggering and exponentially better results 145 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: the quicker you get to hospital to get hold of 146 00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:32,640 Speaker 1: that drug that can help you out. 147 00:08:33,400 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 2: That's right. Well, the other great advance that I didn't 148 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 2: mention is for really severe strokes you can go in 149 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,679 Speaker 2: and get surgery. So not just the medication that dissolves 150 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 2: the clot. We actually now go in to put a 151 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,560 Speaker 2: wire up through the artery in your leg and it 152 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,040 Speaker 2: goes in and actually pulls out the big clocks and 153 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 2: they're the ones that people literally are either die from 154 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 2: or are very disabled from. And people can actually walk 155 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 2: out of hospital so it's amazing and that treatment is 156 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 2: a smaller percentage of people, but for those people it's 157 00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 2: life saving and you can have that up to twenty 158 00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 2: four hours. But like the dissolving medication, every minute counts 159 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 2: and the earlier we start the treatment, the much better 160 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,240 Speaker 2: outcome the patients have. So time is critical and it's 161 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 2: minutes and people need to act and ring an ambulance. 162 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:30,240 Speaker 1: Absolutely very informative. Kelvin, thank you for your time today. 163 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: You're welcome Kelvin Hill, who is the National Manager of 164 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,839 Speaker 1: stroke Treatment at the Stroke Foundation of Australia. National Stroke 165 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:41,480 Speaker 1: Week getting underway today, so be aware, particularly a fast 166 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,199 Speaker 1: check for side of the face grouping, can you raise 167 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: your arms, use your speech slurred? And then it's tea 168 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: for time, get to hospital fast and that could save 169 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:53,520 Speaker 1: your life.