Medical Seminar: Understanding Strokes

On 21 July Fo Guang Shan FGS South Island hosted a medical seminar presented by Dr Alex Fu on “Strokes and Fainting”.  Dr. Fu is a neurosurgeon in Taiwan, and a Taiwanese Overseas Community Affairs Councillor in New Zealand.  The session was well attended, with 70 participants including the FGS New Zealand Abbess Venerable Manshin, Minister in Charge Venerable Jue Xi, Venerable Zhi Wu and 70 other members of the public.

Dr Fu pointed out that strokes often occur at the prime of people’s lives, when the fruits of the lifetime’s labour is only started to be enjoyed.  It is therefore very important to keep healthy and recognise signs of having a stroke, and how to manage them.  There are different types of strokes, ischaemic and haemorrhagic, and the mechanisms of these were explained.

Participants were reassured of improved outcomes of suffering from a stroke, with the advances of medical interventions such as thrombolysis.  With the recurrence risk assessment table, Dr Fu illustrated the common risk factors of having a stroke, including having high blood pressure, diabetes and smoking.  By managing these risk factors, having a healthy lifestyle and being happy are all important in preventing strokes.

The talk was well received, with participants finding the content easy to understand, and having the reassurance that through paying attention to lifestyle we can prevent serious health outcomes.  It was a great opportunity for the members of the public to understand strokes, and have the chance to help others and themselves.  Dr. Fu and participants also appreciated having the temple available for this great forum to occur.  Abbess Manshin also said her appreciation for Dr. Fu’s interesting medical seminar and look forward to having more seminars like these held in the future to benefit everyone.