Siemens and The Stroke Association are launching the Stroke for Stroke campaign once again this year aiming to highlight the positive benefits of regular exercise.

Siemens, high performance partner of GB Rowing, and The Stroke Association are launching the Stroke for Stroke campaign once again this year aiming to highlight the positive benefits of regular exercise and help educate and inform the public about strokes and stroke prevention.

Open to everyone across the UK, Siemens Stroke for Stroke Week is taking place between 27th October – 2nd November and challenges people to sign up to row an individually sponsored 10km (or more!) to raise vital funds for The Stroke Association.

The campaign aims to highlight that anybody, regardless of age, can suffer a stroke and that regular exercise, such as rowing, can go a long way in prevention.

"Each year an estimated 150,000 people in the UK will have a stroke.  This puts a big pressure on the NHS in terms of identifying symptoms quickly so that an accurate course of treatment can be prescribed.  This also has a financial impact of rehabilitation and social aftercare.  Raising awareness of how exercise and lifestyle choices can help prevent stroke and TIA cases in the first place is a big must and will obviously alleviate some of the impact on the health service", states Peter Harrison, Director of Imaging & Oncology Systems at Siemens Healthcare.

He continues, "Of course, prevention has to go hand in hand with expanding the provision of diagnostic and treatment facilities available to patients.  Access to rapid CT scanning upon admission to hospital is essential to diagnosis and determination of treatment.  This is especially important as some patients may benefit from a reperfusion therapy that is only currently administered within a three hour window from the onset of symptoms.  This treatment not only helps to save lives, it can also dramatically improve the quality of life to survivors of this condition."

Four time Olympic gold medallist, Sir Matthew Pinsent CBE is backing the campaign.  He commented, "Some people assume that strokes only affect older people, but over a quarter of all strokes happen to those under the age of 65.  The Stroke Association has linked up with Siemens on Stroke for Stroke Week, which is a fantastic opportunity for people to realise the amazing stress busting health benefits that rowing can bring whilst raising vital money to help prevent the UK's third biggest killer."

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