The neurologists told PUNCH HealthWise that some studies have also confirmed the difference in stroke risk factors.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, one of the experts – a Professor of Neurology at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, Borno state, Yakub Nyandaiti, explained that if stroke affects a particular area of the brain, irrespective of the patients’ gender or age, the signs and symptoms are usually the same.
Nyandaiti, however, noted that some population-based studies have shown and confirmed some statistical differences.
Nyandaiti said, “the symptoms are more or less similar. However, few studies have shown that in a general term, women may present more generalised weakness, fatigue, or some mental changes.
“But if you have a stroke at a particular part of the brain, it will manifest the same whether it is a man or a woman.
“If it affects the speech area, both parties will experience the same symptom which is the inability to speak. If it affects the motor area, there would be the weakness of one side of the body, the symptoms are equal. So it depends on the area commonly involved.”
Adding, Dr. Nyandaiti said, “Majority of the stroke cases we have are as a result of hypertension and diabetes, if these can be controlled or treated, I think the incidents of stroke will drastically reduce.”
Nyandaiti, however, noted that there are modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors that can predispose a woman to stroke.
“Generally, women live longer than men, so age is one of the main non-modifiable factors that predispose women to stroke more than men. Also, there is race and gender.
“For pregnancy-related, in some few instances like peripartum cardiomyopathy or preeclampsia in pregnancy, if the woman has a certain heart disease, use oral contraceptives, then these factors predispose them more,” he said.
According to Nyandaiti, the most common risk factors for stroke are hypertension and diabetes; which are modifiable symptoms.
Other risk factors for stroke, he said, include smoking, diabetes, heart disease, injection of drugs, and hyperlipidaemia.
According to a health portal, Healthline, while peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare type of
heart failure occurring during pregnancy or immediately after delivery,
hyperlipidaemia is a medical term for abnormally high levels of fats (lipids)
in the blood, which includes cholesterol and triglycerides.
Also speaking with PUNCH HealthWise, a Senior Registrar in Neurology at the Ahamadu Bello Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Dr. Ezeanyim Ifeanyichukwu, said stroke presentation might differ in women due to a higher occurrence of atypical symptoms.
He said, “Typical focal symptoms seen in men and women include sudden weakness of one side of the body, the facial asymmetry with a deviation of the angle of the mouth to the stronger side, change in speech articulation, difficulty in swallowing, walking, balancing, loss of consciousness, etc.
“While the atypical symptoms women experience include headache, generalised weakness, impaired consciousness, non-neurological symptoms like chest pain and palpitations, nausea, and they could be misinterpreted as a stroke mimic.”
Dr. Ifeanyichukwu while noting that there is no known cause for
stroke added that there are triggers and risk factors associated with the
condition.
“Risk factors increase the probability of an individual having a stroke while triggers are events that cause a stroke to occur at a particular time in those with the risk factors for stroke.
“Though many risk factors are the same for women and men, some risk factors are unique to women. The risk factors for women include age, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, frequent migraine, headaches, obesity, preeclampsia in pregnancy, depression, high cholesterol, and some oral contraceptives,” he said.
According to Healthline, women may report symptoms not often associated with strokes in men. These can include nausea or vomiting, seizures, hiccups, trouble breathing, fainting and general weakness.
Because these symptoms are unique to women, it may be difficult to immediately connect them to stroke. This can delay treatment, which may hinder recovery, the health portal said, adding that women who are unsure of their symptoms should still call emergency services for prompt intervention.
Once paramedics arrive on the scene, they can assess the symptoms and begin treatment, if needed, Healthline said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Nigeria ranked stroke as number seven in its top ten causes of death in the country.
The NCDC ranked stroke after neonatal disorders, malaria, diarrheal diseases, lower respiratory infection, HIV/AIDS, and Ischemic heart disease.
Also, a study published in the International Journal of Stroke in 2008 noted that the current prevalence of stroke in Nigeria is 1.14 per 1000 while the 30-day case fatality rate is as high as 40 per cent.
The study led by a professor of neurology, Kolawole Wahab of the University of Ilorin stated that stroke is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide.
The study also stated that stroke morbidity and mortality are likely to get worse in developing countries over the next two decades based on the projections by the World Health Organisation.
“With the current scourge of HIV/AIDS and the battle against other communicable diseases like multi-drug resistant malaria and tuberculosis; Nigeria, the most populous black nation in the world, stands to risk the further straining of its resources as a result of the increasing prevalence of stroke and other cardiovascular diseases due to epidemiological transition.
“The current prevalence of stroke in Nigeria is 1.14 per 1000 while the 30-day case fatality rate is as high as 40 per cent. Management of the disease is largely conservative while there is little or no funding for high-quality research. Primary prevention is the key to reducing the burden of the disease in a country with such poor resources,” Prof. Wahab said.
Source: HealthWise
