1 in 6 – Know Your Pulse on World Stroke Day

One in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime, which has prompted the theme for this year’s world stroke day on Friday 29th October: ‘One in Six’. People in Dorset are being encouraged to ‘know your pulse’ as a way of preventing a stroke.

The ‘One in Six’ campaign will run for two years and aims to raise awareness of stroke prevention and promote the fact that a full recovery after stroke is possible with appropriate long-term care and support.

The Dorset Cardiac and Stroke Network which is hosted by NHS Bournemouth and Poole, has been working to raise awareness of stroke, what to look for, how to prevent it and providing support in recovery. ‘Know your pulse’ films are planned to run on screens in GP practices, over the coming months encouraging people in Dorset to know and monitor their pulse rate; a contributing factor to stroke.

“We must maintain a local focus on prevention and raising awareness about stroke. We are supporting the World Stroke Day ‘One in Six’ campaign by running a series of films in GP practices about checking and monitoring your pulse rate. This is a contributing factor to stroke and can prevent a stroke from occurring if irregular pulse rates are recognised early”, said Sara Leonard, Lead Manager, Dorset Cardiac & Stroke Network. “Checking your pulse isn’t something that you would usually consider as a routine part of maintaining your health but it is vitally important in identifying abnormalities which could lead to stroke. If you are visiting your GP or practice nurse in the near future, ask them to check your pulse and find out how to check it yourself.”

About a third of people who have a stroke make a significant recovery within a month, but most stroke survivors will have long-term problems. It may take a year or longer for them to make the best possible recovery. Sadly, in the most severe cases, strokes can be fatal or cause long-term disability.

Find out more information about World Stroke day by visiting: www.worldstrokecampaign.org

Find out more information about checking and monitoring your pulse by visiting:
www.heartrhythmcharity.org.uk/projects-and-campaigns/know-your-pulse-projects/know-your-pulse-uk

By Heidi Rees (Bournemouth 2026 Partnership)

Posted: Friday 29 October 2010

Permalink: http://www.bournemouth2026.org/know-your-pulse

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