'If there's one thing I wish I had done differently when I was hit by a stroke last January,' Zerodha CEO Nithin Kamath said on X (formerly Twitter), 'it would be to go to the hospital immediately, within the Golden Hour, instead of thinking I could just sleep it off.'
On the occasion of World Stroke Day, Zerodha's founder and CEO, Nithin Kamath, shared his personal experience of suffering a stroke and wrote about the importance of getting medical help without delay.
'If there’s one thing I wish I had done differently when I was hit by a stroke last January,' he said on X (formerly Twitter), 'it would be to go to the hospital immediately, within the Golden Hour, instead of thinking I could just sleep it off.'
The golden hour is the critical first hour after the symptoms of a heart attack or stroke begin, explains Apollo Hospitals on its website.
Heart attack affects the heart whereas a stroke affects the brain.
When someone feels chest pain, tightness, pain in the arm or jaw, sweating or breathlessness, it is vital to seek medical help straight away rather than wait it out.
Acting quickly can make the difference between a full recovery and permanent damage.
Kamath noted that the 'nothing will happen to me' attitude is quite common, especially among people under 50.
'But the truth,' he adds, 'is strokes are rising sharply, up to nearly 30 per cent among 30- to 50-year-olds.
'When it comes to stroke, time is brain; every minute counts.'
Six weeks after his stroke, Kamath wrote on LinkedIn, 'Around six weeks ago, I had a mild stroke out of the blue. Dad passing away, poor sleep, exhaustion, dehydration and overworking out -- any of these could be possible reasons.
'I've gone from having a big droop in the face and not being able to read or write to having a slight droop but being able to read and write more. From being absent-minded to more present-minded. So, three to four months for full recovery.
'I wondered why a person who's fit and takes care of himself could be affected. The doctor said you need to know when you need to shift the gears down a bit.
'Slightly broken, but still getting my treadmill count,' he wrote with a smiley.
Thirty weeks after his stroke, Kamath wrote on Instagram, 'Yeah, my body is almost back to normal and my mind is at about 85 per cent.'
'My writing hasn’t improved at all. Maybe because I don’t practise enough. My speech is, well… about 85 per cent.'
A stroke happens, explains the Cleveland Clinic, when a blood clot or broken vessel prevents blood from getting to your brain. It can be fatal, the clinic adds, and need immediate treatment.
World Stroke Day is marked globally on 29 October each year to raise awareness about this serious health problem, to encourage prevention, early recognition of warning signs and timely treatment.
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