Saturday April 6 in Banstead Village was the annual Rotary Stroke Awareness Day when shoppers were invited to come into the Banstead Institute at All Saints Church to have a free blood pressure test.

Dr. Simon Carpenter and SRN Sue Cutler kindly gave their time to spend the day carrying out the blood pressure checks.

117 people had their blood pressure taken and the vast majority were pleased to find that their blood pressure was normal but one person was found with high blood pressure and two others had low blood pressure, so they were advised to see their GP’s for further tests. High blood pressure increases your chance of having a stroke. Every year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke. That is one person every five minutes. Most people affected are over 65, but anyone can have a stroke, including children and even babies.

Mrs Thatcher died from a severe stroke, but often a stroke will not kill you but can cause brain damage when the blood supply is cut off to a part of the brain. A person may become partly paralysed on one side of the body, speech may be affected or a person may lose their sight. About a third of people who have a stroke make a significant recovery within a month but most stroke survivors have long term problems.

To prevent having a stroke it is important to have your blood pressure checked regularly. If your blood pressure is high your doctor can prescribe medication to lower it and thus decrease the chances of having a stroke. It also helps if you give up smoking, eat healthily and take regular exercise.

Ruth Dunkin from the Stroke Association is coming to speak to the members of Banstead Rotary Club on Tuesday, April 23 and to get feedback from the club about their stroke awareness day. If you would like to come along to one of the meetings, meet the members and perhaps even get involved yourself, then do ring club secretary Derek Aram on 01737-212397 and he will be pleased to hear from you.

Ian Caldwell
Banstead Rotary Club