Alec, a young man of 34 years was brought to the hospital. He had woken up that morning with a slur in his speech. Then he fell. His wife quickly alerted neighbors who rushed in and brought him to the hospital. On presentation, his blood pressure was 220/160mmHg (I am sure you know the optimal normal is below 120/80). We immediately commenced management  while a brain scan was done, as it was obvious Alec had had a stroke.

I asked the wife if she knew her husband was hypertensive, and she denied any knowledge of that. Alec himself claimed not to know. However, he noticed his vison is blurry sometimes and the head aches almost did not want to stop. But he did nothing serious about that either.

Now, Alec is learning to live all over again. Frequent physiotherapist management and lots of money spent.

You see eh, prevention is not only better than cure, it is also cheaper than cure. The chances are higher that Alec may not have had a stroke if he had made a little bit more effort at checking his blood pressure or living healthy intentionally.

Check your blood Pressure. If you do not check…You will not know.

Be intentional about healthy living. Eat right. Exercise. Sleep well. Mange stress effectively. Avoid smoking and alcohol.

Try fam! Try!