For advertising information call 859.368.0778 or email [email protected] | February 2016
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25
Warning Signs
of Stroke
Learn how to tell symptoms
and act FAST
By Harleena Singh, Staff Writer
Nearly 800,000 people in the
United States will experience a stroke
each year, which is one stroke every
40 seconds. Stroke is an emergency
that can happen at any age, any time
to anyone. A stroke indicates a lack
of blood flow to the brain. It can be
caused by a clot in a blood vessel or
a ruptured vessel. The sooner you
get help, the less likely you will have
serious problems, and the better your
chances of recovery. If the cause is a
clot, the patient needs clot-busting
medicines within minutes or hours
of the stroke to have a chance of
recovery.
For every minute a stroke goes
untreated and the blood flow to the
brain remains blocked, a person
loses about 1.9 million neurons. This
means the person’s memory, movement, speech and much more can be
affected.
Thus, learning the warning signs
of a stroke can help save a life.
According to the National Institutes
of Health (NIH), the unique thing
about stroke symptoms is that they
come on suddenly, without any warning. These symptoms include:
• numbness or weakness in the
face, arm or leg, especially on one
side of the body;
• trouble walking, loss of balance
or coordination and dizziness;
• trouble seeing out of one eye or
both eyes;
• trouble speaking and understanding or confusion;
• severe headache with no known
cause;
• feeling an urge to be sick; and
• overall fatigue.
The exact symptoms vary depending on the affected area of the brain.
Strokes often affect one of the brain’s
two hemispheres, the left and right.
Stroke in one hemisphere affects the
opposite side of the body.
To check someone for symptoms,
try the FAST test as suggested by the
National Stroke Association (www.
stroke.org):