Kansas City, Kan- Key points from today’s guests:
Morning Rounds – Summary of Current News
Dr. Lisa Vopat, director, Female Athlete Programs, The University of Kansas Health System
- The Kansas City Current, the women’s professional soccer franchise, kicks off its season tomorrow.
- To prep the players for a grueling season, it requires a lot of work to keep all those athletes healthy.
- Physicals have been completed. As part of ongoing medical care, we actually go out to the training facility and see the athletes every week to address their medical issues and any injuries they might be concerned about.
- As far as advice to other young female athletes, listen to and take care of your body. Females who play any sport need to resistance training to help build muscle.
- They need to take at least a full day of rest and they need to fuel their body. Females run off of carbs. So, keep that in mind.
Focus Topic
Dr. Dipika Aggarwal, stroke survivor; neurologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- As a neurologist, I thought that I knew strokes, but then being a stroke patient and a stroke survivor, when you live with it 24/7, 365 days a year -- that's when it becomes really close to the heart.
- After being a stroke survivor, it became my passion to spread awareness about strokes.
- There are so many under recognized and misconceptions about strokes, which is one of the leading causes of disability in the U.S.
- Stroke is preventable, treatable, and beatable. So, there is life and hope after stroke.
Gina Jacobs, stroke survivor
- While on vacation with her husband in the Dominican Republic, Gina had a stroke in the middle of the night.
- Her husband found her unresponsive the next morning and she was flown back to Kansas to get treatment where they discovered she had a stroke.
- It’s been two years since the stroke, and she continues with rehab.
- The stroke survivor support group has been helpful because she can talk with others going through the same road to recovery.
Tom Jacobs, Gina’s husband
- The support group is also helpful for Tom, who was thrust into a situation as a caregiver without any real training.
- Because Gina couldn't speak, couldn't swallow, and her whole right side was dead, he really had to help her get back to the basics.
- Now she can walk and is driving and getting back to normal activities.
- It is a lot of stress and pressure on caregivers and Tom appreciates the support he has received to help Gina.
Kelli Schmidt, stroke survivor
- Kelli’s stroke started when she was at the gym and had vision issues in her right eye.
- Eventually, she went to a local hospital and had lost feeling in her entire left side. After three days, she had regained feeling and movement in her left leg so she could walk, and the hospital discharged her without a real treatment or rehab plan.
- She came to the Health System to get treatment and support and is doing well today.
- It took her over two years to find a stroke support group. She likes to be able to talk to someone who can truly say they understand, even if it wasn't the same stroke.
Dr. Husitha Vanguru, vascular neurologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- Continued therapy is very important. We often underestimate the importance of it.
- Recovery continues for weeks, months, and years after a stroke and we are still learning about all the neuronal connections that are happening. It's very important to get experts specialized in stroke taking care of stroke patients.
- It’s also important for patients and the caregivers to continue therapy at home.
- As a comprehensive stroke center, we have the capability to provide all acute stroke treatments here.
- What sets us apart is the timing for how quickly we assess and treat patient and how we've created really good systems of care here. And on top of that, since this is a quaternary center, and there are 10 stroke neurologists here, we deal with a lot more complex cases.
- Every second counts as there are a lot of neurons that are dying because of lack of blood supply. With faster treatment, it creates an important downstream effect and also determines if the patient goes home without any deficits or with mild assets.
Dr. Tiffany Barkley, vascular neurologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- What we noticed is that the incidence of stroke especially in the young -- adults aged 18 to 50 -- and even in pediatric cases younger than that, we're starting to see increase in incidence in young patients.
- If you'd look at just the data from the past 25 years, the incidence has doubled, anywhere from about 15 patients per 100,000 people to now about 30.
- The most common reason for that is what we call modifiable risk factors. Higher incidence of having high blood pressure and higher incidence having high cholesterol and diabetes are starting to occur much younger.
- It is really important to be mindful of our diet. Make sure to exercise. If you're smoking, quit. All those things help make sure we have a healthy heart and healthy body.
- No one is immune to having a stroke. Just being aware of stroke symptoms and the need for urgent treatment and evaluation is important.
- Use BE FAST to help identify strokes:
- Balance changes
- Eyesight problems
- Face drooping/numbness
- Arm weakness
- Speech difficulty
- Time – call 911
COVID Update
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of Infection Prevention and Control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The hospital COVID count for this week is at 12 inpatients, down from 15 inpatients last week.
- Today is the first-ever Long COVID Awareness Day. It is real and we know it affects people every day.
- It can have many symptoms and it can affect many organs in our body -- the brain, the lungs, even the GI system and the muscles.
- Per the NIH, there are as many as 20-23 million Americans that may have symptoms of long COVID. It can last weeks or months or longer.
- At The University of Kansas Medical Center, there is heavy involvement in long COVID research, and it is called RECOVER.
- If you are feeling ill or you know somebody that is dealing with long COVID symptoms, check out RECOVERCOVID.org.