Stroke a major health risk

Any health condition that could affect people in the UK, be they private medical insurance consumers or National Health Service visitors, needs to be given as much prominence as possible, particularly when it is as serious as stroke.

A new survey indicates that stroke is the third-largest cause of death in the UK. The complications of the condition are horrendous. A stroke can leave sufferers unable to speak, paralysed and blind . People can usually tell before they get a stroke due to problems with the speech, arm weakness and facial weakness.

The Stroke Association recently highlighted the fact that these symptoms rarely provoke an emergency reaction. Furthermore, people underestimated their risk of suffering a stroke.

The director of communications at the Stroke Association, Jo Korner, reportedly commented: People simply do not realise the devastation that a stroke can cause or that it can be prevented.