Stroke survivor warns women of risk

According to a recent poll by The Stroke Association, one in eight women in the UK wrongly believes that a stroke could never happen to them.

However, around 30,000 women die from a stroke every year. The condition is the third leading cause of death in women in the UK and the second biggest killer worldwide.

Stroke Association befriender and volunteer Yvonne Gowdy, 56, was diagnosed with a stroke three years ago. Tests also revealed she’d had four Transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs).

The local woman went to her GP after becoming dizzy in the swimming pool. Although strength, balance and blood pressure tests proved normal she was unable to lift her left leg fully when walking up the stairs the following day. Speaking on World Stroke Day (October 29), Yvonne said: “I called my GP and this time he told me to go to A&E.

“Finding out about the TIAs was a shock as I hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary until the day in the pool. I had heard of TIAs before but I didn’t expect to have one, or a stroke, in my mid-50s.”

Yvonne still suffers from weakness down her left side and has taken ill-health retirement from her job as a secretary. She continued: “The stroke unit gave me plenty of information about TIA and stroke and they referred me to the community stroke team, which sent someone to visit regularly. I was also given information about diet and lifestyle, which I’ve tried to incorporate.”

However, Yvonne says she felt she needed more emotional support. She explained: “I felt vulnerable afterwards and at the time there were no local aftercare services for emotional wellbeing, such as counselling, which I feel that I would have benefitted from.

“I’m now about to get involved in a befriending service, set up by the Stroke Association, to help others who have recently been through similar experiences.”

Northern Ireland Director of the Stroke Association Tom Richardson said: “It’s extremely worrying that thousands of women don’t even have stroke on their radar.

“We know that women’s stroke risk significantly increases as they get older. One in five women will have a stroke in their lifetime and stroke kills three times as many women as breast cancer every year. Women have more strokes than men and there are a number of stroke risk factors unique to women, including pregnancy, birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy.

“This should serve as a wake-up call to women of all ages to be aware and better informed of the steps they can take to reduce their stroke risk. Simple lifestyle changes, such as keeping blood pressure under control and stopping smoking, could significantly lower women’s likelihood of having a stroke.”

For more information, visit www.stroke.org.uk/women