Click here to learn more.<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\nStrokes are also one of the leading causes of illness claims and show up as one of Old Mutual\u2019s \u2018Big 4 Illnesses\u2019 alongside cancer, heart attacks and coronary artery bypass grafts.<\/p>\n
As a group, the Big 4 made up 70% of all Illness insurance claims in 2020.<\/p>\n
Typically labelled an elderly disease, in reality, anyone is at risk of having a stroke, says Dr. Kerissa Naidoo, Chief Medical Officer at Old Mutual.<\/p>\n
\u201cA stroke is a cardiovascular disorder that occurs when the blood supply to the brain from the carotid arteries is interrupted,\u201d says Naidoo.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople with comorbidities, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are at higher risk of developing severe Covid-19 infection,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why it is crucial for South Africans to recognise the impact of heart disease at any life stage and take the necessary precautionary steps early on, to ensure they are financially protected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Old Mutual\u2019s 2020 Claim Statistics show that cardiovascular disorders \u2013 which include heart attacks and strokes – remain the second-most claimed for illness for a second year in a row, accounting for 27% of all illness insurance claims and last year the youngest claimant in this illness category was just 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe main causes of a stroke are uncontrolled blood pressure and an abnormal heart rhythm,\u201d says Naidoo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat said, most strokes do not have a single cause, but rather many factors that together increase the chance of cardiovascular disease, which eventually may result in a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n
While these factors may not directly cause the stroke to occur, they contribute to its development, and are therefore called risk factors.<\/p>\n
Naidoo admits that some risk factors are uncontrollable, such as increasing age, genetics or family history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe good news is that certain risk factors are controllable,\u201d she adds, including body weight, physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese lifestyle factors are the most likely reasons why younger people are increasingly affected by cardiovascular diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thankfully, 80% of deaths from strokes before the age of 65 can be prevented simply by making healthy lifestyle changes such as regular exercise and improved diet, and by proactively screening for and controlling cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar levels.<\/p>\n
While leading a healthy lifestyle may be the best preventative measure, it does not provide any guarantees, says Naidoo.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why illness insurance should play an important role in protecting you from the unpredictability of life, in helping to secure the best possible care should you develop a condition such as a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Illness insurance from Old Mutual, a severity-based percentage of the cover amount (between R100,000 and R6 million), is paid out as a single, tax-free amount, which can be put towards rehabilitation costs, travel between treatment centres, any modifications required to your car or home and even to help cover daily expenses while you recover.<\/p>\n
As it is modular cover, you can keep costs to a minimum by choosing and paying only for the benefits you need, as well as adding or removing features according to your changing circumstances.<\/p>\n
Cover can be made more personal, with add-on benefits and features at an extra cost.<\/p>\n
For example, the Returning Illness Benefit pays up to 50% of the cover amount should you have a returning illness, such as a second stroke later on, and where the full cover amount has already been paid out.<\/p>\n
The Top-up Benefit pays the full cover amount for certain illnesses.<\/p>\n
It automatically includes a Lifestyle Enhancer which pays out the full cover amount again if your quality of life is severely impacted by an illness like a stroke and you can no longer care for yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile younger South Africans may feel far removed from the risks of suffering a stroke, it is becoming increasingly clear that strokes should not be a concern reserved only for the over sixties.<\/p>\n
World Stroke Day on 29 October 2021 affords us the opportunity to recognise the role of comprehensive illness insurance in providing the best possible physical and financial protection in the event of severe illness, regardless of your age,\u201d says Naidoo.<\/p>\n
Visit oldmutual.co.za\/illness<\/a><\/strong> for Ts&Cs and more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"According to the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa, this leads to nearly 70 deaths a day nationally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":532824,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10459],"tags":[1110],"class_list":["post-532820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry-news","tag-old-mutual"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=532820"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":533110,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532820\/revisions\/533110"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}