Stroke Information

I didn't have any idea where to post this, so thought this might be the best place to do it. Here is something that is vital for all of us to know, especially those over the age of 75. Hope it will be of some use to you in the future, either for youself or someone else.

hzchoice
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Subject: New Stroke Identification

Had seen this before, but not this clearly and not with the tip about
sticking out the tongue. Good to remember. Read all the way to bottom.

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters...


STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
My friend sent this to me and encouraged me to post it and spread
the word, I agreed. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously . please read:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she
assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the afternoon. Ingrid's husband called later saying that his wife had been taken to the hospital and passed away. She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some stroke victims don't die, they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within
three hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke . . totally. He said
the trick was having a stroke recognized, diagnosed and then getting the patient medically cared for within three hours, which is tough.


RECOGNIZING A STROKE:

Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps.

Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify.
Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may
suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three
simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK, to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE.
(Coherently) (i.e. . It is sunny out today)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to
'stick' out their tongue . if the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or
the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

If he or she has trouble with any one of these tasks, call 911
immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to
ten people, you can bet at least one life will be saved.

My daughter had a stroke at the age of 4. The raising both arms thing is very good advice. She was unable to control the left side of her body properly, although it did come and go for a couple of days.

Another test I'd suggest is to ask them to wink each eye in turn. For months afterwards she was unable to wink her left eye but could do the right one no problem.

She's fine now, thank goodness. Obviously her brain is still growing at that age and it managed to fix itself.

The main point here though, is that it doesn't have to be an old person to have a stroke.