There is a distressing new study in the Journal of Neurology this month *12/09. It states that 1 of every 640 young adults is a childhood cancer survivor. Those who have grown up and grown out of childhood cancer that involved the brain are at increased risk of having a stroke (brain attack) while still relatively young.
This information is also an oppurtunity. If you or someone you love has been through treatment for cancer that started in or spread to the brain, be on look out for strokes. Live Well - Sleep Well - Dance like No One is Watching .... but if while doing all of this you see loss of ability to talk, walk, use part of the body or be alert, call 911 - immediately.
The oppurtunity is for reversal of the stroke with quick stroke identification and treatment. If a young person shows up in the ER with stroke symptoms, most docs will not think of a stroke - it is just not common in 20 and 30 year olds. But if you have a small card in your wallet that states "brain cancer survivor, at risk for stroke" - then the doctor is likely to look for, find and quickly treat the stroke. The treatment of stroke is very dependent on time. If you get the stroke diagnosed 6 hours after the signs started, it is too late to get the best treatment responce. But, if you get to the ER and get the stroke treated in a few hours, you have a much better chance of walking out of the hospital doing as well as the day before you went in.
Be Well -
Diane Stein MD
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