SIGNS OF STROKE

Stroke, defined as the “interruptions of the blood supply to any part of the brain, resulting in damaged brain tissue”, and the third leading source of death in the US.

There are, according to an article by Don Hazen at Alternet, three major ways to recognize a stroke. I have no medical knowledge to the assess the article, but it may useful, and possibly better than knowing nothing. He observes:

. . . there is an e-mail that has been making the rounds for years that provides a very simple, easy-to-remember tool for helping to recognize strokes. Much off-the-wall information flies around the Internet, so one has to be initially skeptical about what lands in your e-mail box. So I did a little research on Snopes.com, which confirms that this straightforward “STR” system of recognizing stroke systems is quite dependable and helpful. The Snopes.com write-up is included after this article.

So, the bottom line is that it is very possible for a bystander to recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S — Ask the individual to SMILE
T — Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK (coherently) A SIMPLE SENTENCE (E.g. “It is sunny out today.”)
R — Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS

And, according again to the article, there are some warming signs:

There needs to be a similar awareness of the warning signs of a stroke. Frequently, victims simply don’t recognize that they are experiencing a stroke, nor do the people around them. “People really don’t know much about strokes,” says Dr. Bruce Ovbiagele, director of the Olive View/UCLA Stroke Program and a spokesman for the American Stroke Association. “Only about 27 percent of the public can name one stroke symptom.”

In some cases, cognitive problems such as confusion caused by the stroke can impair a person’s ability to understand what is happening. So, keep in mind that the warning signs include:

Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.

Anyway, if somebody around us, shows any of these signs we should get help for them fast.

The diagnosis has to be left to doctors. With my health issues, I have an interest, since if I am not careful or foolish because of the consequent increase in blood level potassium, I could suffer, if not a stroke, at least heart problems. When not yet diagnosed, I experienced dizziness and have to sit down and loss of balance. It is bad enough to loss balance in the backyard, but anything like that is more disconcerting in public.

Needless to report, I was among the great majority that could not identify the symptoms of stroke.

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