Tell Tale Signs of a Stroke

A stroke can be a debilitating condition.  Depending on the severity of the stroke, it can also lead to death.  If intervention is available early on when the stroke occurs, the effects on the brain can be lessened or reversed.  It is important for everyone to know about the signs of a stroke so that they can save a life.

Just like a heart attack, a stroke has signs that one is in progress.  Recognizing those signs will save your life and/or the life of another person.  As an observer, you may notice some signs that trigger your decision to act.  These include:

1.  Loss of balance, trouble walking, or dizziness.  This is a suspicious sign when a person was previously walking fine and suddenly loses their balance for no apparent reason.

2.  Trouble speaking or understanding.  You may be talking to someone and all of a sudden they have a puzzled look as if they don’t comprehend what you are saying or what they may have been doing the moment before.  Slurring speech is a definite sign, especially when no alcohol is involved.

As a stroke victim, you will experience changes in your body that others can’t see.  It is necessary to recognize these signs and communicate that something is wrong while you still have power of speech.

1.  Sudden numbness on one side of the body.  This can affect your arm, face, or leg.  It can cause you to lose your balance.

2.  Trouble seeing.  Vision can become blurry in one or both eyes for no reason.  If you rub your eyes and nothing changes, consider a stroke as the cause.

3.  Severe headache.  Headaches are caused by all sorts of conditions.  A headache not due to stress or in a person not prone to migraine headaches is a cause for concern, especially if other signs of a stroke are present.

If any of these symptoms are noticed by you as the observer or by you as the stroke victim, take the next step.  There are on-the-spot tests you can do to see if a stroke is actually the cause.

* Ask the person to smile.  If there is drooping on one side of the face, a stroke is in progress.
* Ask the person to say a simple sentence.  Slurring the words is a sign of stroke.
* Ask the person to raise their arms.  A numbness or weakness on one side of the body will show when they try to raise the affected arm and cannot raise it at all or raise it as high as the other arm.

Call 911 right away.  Every second counts.  As the stroke progresses, more and more brain cells are being affected.  Tell the emergency personnel that it is a stroke so they can make the proper intervention.

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