Diagnosis and Treatment of A Stroke

If you or someone you know is having a stroke, a quick diagnosis and treatment might be the difference between life or death or permanent paralysis if the stroke victim survives. So it is essential that you know the signs of a stroke.If you can get the stroke victim to the hospital within three hours of the attack, the prognosis for full recovery is optimistic.

First, some facts about strokes and who is mmost likely to suffer one.At least one person dies each minute from a stroke in the U.S. Nearly 775,000 persons have strokes in the U.S. each year. A third of them die and another third suffer permanent paralysis,speech loss,and/or memory loss.

Strokes are caused by a lot of factors, but a stroke occurs when the brain is deprived of blood due to a blockage in the carotid artery or a plaque particle breaking away from the walls of the carotid artety and lodging in the brain, depriving it of the blood it needs to nourish the body.

Persons Who Are At Risk

Persons who are at risk for stroke are:
1) Hereditary–If a person comes from a family where other members have suffered strokes.
2) Gender–Women are more likely to have a stroke than men.
3) Age–The chance of having a stroke approximately doubles for each decade of life after age 55.Stroke is more common among persons over 65, but it also hits younger persons as well.
4) Race–African Americans are more likely to have one than are Caucasians.
5) Medical History–Sickle cell anemia. Sickled red blood cells are less able to carry oxygen to the body’s tissues and organs. They adhere to the blood vessel walls,which clogs the arteries to the brain and causes a stroke.
Persons who are prior stroke victims or who have had a mini stroke, called a TIA, are much more likely to have another stroke.

Symptoms of A Stroke

A simple four-question quiz will tell you if someone you’re with is having a stroke

1.) Ask the individual to SMILE. If he’s having a stroke, his smile will be crooked.
2.) Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)(i.e. Tom is a terrific teenager. If the person is having a stroke, he will find this difficult to do.
3.See if the victim can Raise Both Arms. He’ll just be able to raise one.
4.) Ask him to STICK OUT HIS TONGUE. If the person can’t stick his tongue out straight, then it’s likely a stroke is the cause.
If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

Additional signs of a TIA, or mini-stroke, include a feeling that one leg or arm is heavier than the other and walking or climbing stairs is difficult.The victim might trip going up the stairs because one leg didn’t clear a stair. The victim has trouble keeping his balance and might even fall down and struggle to stand up.

If this happens to you or the person you’re with it, is imperative you get to a hospital immediately.You’ll immediately be taken into the medical ward and be given tests to determine if it is a stroke and immediate treatment if it is. And congratulations! The odds are you will survive and not experience any permanent damage.

If you have this experience and everything works out ok, remember that this is a warning and lifestyle changes are mandatory to keep another, more serious stroke from happening again.

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