Costa Ricans lose 10 years of life because of strokes.
The so-called brain hemorrhages kill 3 people every day and they are responsible of 6% of deaths among Costa Ricans.
Smoking, hypertension, and sedentary lifestyle are some of the risk factors that can lead to this situation.
Miguel Barboza, a neurologist at Calderón Guardia Hospital, explained that there is a new campaign that intends to inform people how to assist brain hemorrhages.
The Camaleón campaign aims to identify signs of a stroke:
CA: changes in the face
MA: weakness in hands
LE: language barriers
ÓN: turn on the phone and call 9-1-1
A stroke must be addressed in less than 3 hours. For every second that a patient goes untreated, up to 32 million neurons may die.
As a result, it is important to treat it on time in order to avoid the consequences of this disease, which can be at a motor level and the patient may be left with a disability.
At the appropriate time, the patient can receive treatment to attack the blood clot that caused the stroke. This treatment can cost up to 900,000 colones per therapy.
The Camaléon campaign is available from October 25th through social networks.