How to Recognize If Someone Is Having a Stroke

According to the National Stroke Association, strokes are the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States with well in excess of half a million people suffering from strokes each year.

Strokes are mainly due to blocked blood flow to the brain caused by narrowing of the arteries or blood clots. Sometimes they may also be caused by hemorrhaging from an artery. Either of these will stop blood flow to the brain and hence oxygen flow, and this will cause damage to brain cells. 15% of stroke victims will die shortly after having a stroke, 10% manage a complete recovery and the remaining 75% will be left with varying degrees of disability.

In recent years, new treatments have been developed that will help prevent the disabilities caused by stroke, however, in order for them to be completely effective, you need to get the person to an emergency room within one hour of the onset of symptoms.

So, if you suspect someone is having a stroke, then you need to act quickly. Remember these four letters - F.A.S.T. - because this may just help you to save someone's life one day:

Face: Ask the person to smile. Is the face straight? If they have had a stroke then one side of the face may be drooping.

Arms: Ask them to hold their arms out in front of them at an even height. Are they able to do this or is one arm dropping lower than the other?

Speech: A stroke will affect their speech and this may sound slurred. Ask them to tell you their name and address or say a simple sentence.

Time: 'T' is usually given as 'time' - time to call 9-1-1 and get them to a hospital quickly, however, in some recent advice I've seen circulating, they say 'tongue' because stroke can cause the tongue to be crooked, although this can be hard to gauge.

Basically, if the person is presenting one or more of the above symptoms and you suspect they may be having a stroke, then you should call for an ambulance immediately because the sooner they can reach a hospital the better and that first sixty minutes is vital for minimum damage to brain cells.

Unless you're in a remote location, do not take them to the hospital in your car. You may have to wait a little time for an ambulance to arrive, however, when they reach the hospital, ambulance patients are given priority and immediate treatment, whereas someone reaching the emergency room by car may lose those vital sixty minutes sitting in the hospital waiting room.

Even if the person appears to be having symptoms, but then they disappear, dial 9-1-1 anyway because even if they are not having an actual stroke, it is possible that the person is suffering from a transient ischemic attack (TIA). These are due to loss of blood supply to the brain for a short period of time and referred to as a 'mini stroke'. They can last from several minutes and up to two hours at a time and, although, unlike actual strokes, they do not cause any damage to brain cells or show up on scans (unless symptoms are still present), they are a warning sign that the person may have a stroke if nothing is done to prevent it.

For the patient, the symptoms of both stroke and TIA are the same, and these include:

• Difficulty with balance, dizziness and problems walking.
• Numbness or tingling sensation down one side of the body.
• Weakness in part of the body - face arms or legs - usually just down one side.
• Sudden thunderclap headache (intense pain at onset) and perhaps accompanied by nausea
• Problems with vision - blurriness, double vision or blackout.
• Confusion.
• Memory loss.
• Having trouble speaking or thinking of correct words to use, or understanding what others are saying.
• Having problems reading and/or writing.
• Difficulty swallowing.
• Losing control of bladder/bowels.
• Sudden personality/mood changes.
• Feeling sleepy or becoming unconscious.

If you suddenly develop one or more of the above symptoms, then do as suggested above for diagnosis - try smiling, trying raising your arms in front of you. If in any doubt, dial 9-1-1 immediately or call for someone else to do it for you.

*In the case of a sudden thunderclap headache you should ALWAYS get medical attention immediately. It may be benign, however, it needs to be checked because, as well as being a symptom of stroke, it can also be a sign that you are having a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), which can result in brain damage or death if not treated immediately.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6194494

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