Stroke leaves victims exposed to malnutrition risk

Stockholm: A stroke could leave you with eating problems, with more than half risking malnutrition even three months after the attack.Researchers from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, studied 36 stroke patients, assessing them in hospital for an average of five days.

They again assessed them three months after their stroke, when they were back in the community, with the majority living in their own homes, the Journal of Advanced Nursing reports. All had experienced eating difficulties, reduced alertness or swallowing problems after their stroke. Just over half of the patients were female (58 percent) and were aged between 40 and 80 years, according to a Karolinska statement. "Approximately five days after they had had their stroke 78 percent of the patients were at nutritional risk and by three months this figure was still 56 percent," said study author Jorgen Medin from the Karolinska clinical sciences department. "Although some of the patients` eating abilities improved at the three-month follow-up, the majority remained unchanged and some even deteriorated," said Medin. IANS