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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nA stroke survivor whose sole symptom was an inability to read has urged the public to recognise uncommon signs of the condition. <\/p>\n
Gordon Robb, 63, experienced a bleed on his brain but was reluctant to seek emergency care as he was not displaying typical symptoms like facial weakness, arm weakness, or speech problems.<\/p>\n
Instead, he found that words \u2013 including emails, Ryder Cup texts, and a cash point screen \u2013 looked as though they were written in a foreign language. <\/p>\n
He had decided to make a GP appointment, but a cousin insisted on an A&E visit, where it emerged that he had a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n
Experts stated that difficulty recognising written words alone, without other symptoms, affects fewer than one per cent of people at the time of their stroke.<\/p>\n
Now Mr Robb, a former vice-president of a biotech company, is taking part in a new British Heart Foundation-funded clinical trial led by academics at the University of Edinburgh in a bid to avoid future strokes.<\/p>\n
Researchers are examining if clopidogrel or aspirin, which are drugs that reduce the risk of blood clotting, can prevent future strokes, heart attacks and premature deaths in people who have had a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n
Mr Robb, from Bonnyrigg in Midlothian, Scotland, is taking the clopidogrel as part of the trial.<\/p>\n
The keen cyclist and runner had his stroke in September last year.<\/p>\n
His symptoms are improving, though it now takes longer to read compared to before his stroke, and he occasionally cannot find the right word during a conversation.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Gordon Robb is taking clopidogrel as part of a new trial (Family Handout\/PA Wire)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cI am incredibly lucky, and quite honestly felt like a fraud in the stroke ward because I was no different to how I am normally, except that I suddenly could not read words,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew some of the classic signs of a stroke like facial weakness, being unable to raise my arms or speech issues, but had none of these.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just shows the importance of paying attention to unusual symptoms, even if they aren\u2019t ones you have heard of before.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I hadn\u2019t gone to the hospital, and quickly received treatment, I could have been walking around with a ticking time-bomb in my head.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recalling his stroke, he said: \u201cI was in the garden, went in to have a cup of tea, listen to some music and check my emails on my phone \u2013 and it was like they were in a foreign language.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could see them clearly, and see who they were from, but the words meant nothing to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just assumed I was tired because I had been up late the night before.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen friends were then messaging me about the Ryder Cup that evening and I couldn\u2019t see the messages, I just gave myself an early night.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next day after he could not read the instructions on a cash machine he resolved to see his GP.<\/p>\n
But his cousin, whose husband had died from a sudden stroke just three weeks earlier \u2013 drove straight to his house and insisted on taking him to A&E.<\/p>\n
It was there he discovered he had a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n
While in hospital he signed up to the new trial, led by Professor Rustam Al-Shahi Salman at the University of Edinburgh.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Mr Robb discovered he was having a haemorrhagic stroke after a visit to A&E (Family Handout\/PA Wire)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nProfessor Salman said: \u201cIt has been hard to overcome the instinctive fear that if people have had a haemorrhagic stroke, taking aspirin or a drug like it might cause more bleeding.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we were very relieved when our research showed such drugs to be safe after a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Aspiring study will gather further evidence to establish if aspirin and clopidogrel can help lower the risk of future strokes and heart attacks, and potentially save the lives of people like Gordon who have had a haemorrhagic stroke.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe there is a huge amount more to be done to help these people, whose lives have been turned upside down and who may be concerned about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Robb said: said: \u201cBeing involved in this trial provides some reassurance, that this drug may reduce my risk of another stroke.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it is also great to know that being involved could help improve treatment for people like me in the future, and relieve the pressure on the health system.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel extremely lucky that I did not have more long-term effects from my stroke, and that I have had the chance to try to help improve treatments.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, the British Heart Foundation\u2019s clinical director, added: \u201cFacial weakness, arm or leg weakness and speech problems are well-known signs you or your loved one may be having a stroke, but there are some lesser-known symptoms like being unable to recognise the written word.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you have a symptom that you feel is not right, however strange or unusual, it is really important to seek help. Every minute matters if you may be having a stroke or other medical emergency.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know stroke survivors often fear having another stroke and how disabling this could be. That is why the BHF is funding clinical trials like Aspiring, which will test whether prescribing antiplatelet drugs could protect more people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more A stroke survivor whose sole symptom was an inability to read has urged the public to recognise uncommon signs of the condition. Gordon Robb, 63, experienced a bleed on his brain but was reluctant to seek emergency care as he was not displaying typical symptoms like facial weakness, arm weakness, or speech problems. Instead, he found that words \u2013 including emails, Ryder Cup texts, and a cash point screen \u2013 looked as though they were written in a foreign language. He had decided to make a GP appointment, but a cousin insisted on an A&E visit, where it emerged that he had a haemorrhagic stroke. Experts stated that difficulty recognising written words alone, without other symptoms, affects fewer than one per cent of people at the time of their stroke. Now Mr Robb, a former vice-president of a biotech company, is taking part in a new British Heart Foundation-funded clinical trial led by academics at the University of Edinburgh in a bid to avoid future strokes. Researchers are examining if clopidogrel or aspirin, whic…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11926"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}