Stroke Symptoms
Call 000 IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!! if any of these symptoms occur in someone suddenly:
Tell the operator Exactly where you are
Tell the operator the Exact symptoms you are seeing
FAST stands for:
• Face – Check their face. Has their mouth drooped?
• Arms – Can they lift both arms?
• Speech – Is their speech slurred? Do they understand you?
• Time is critical. If you see any of these symptoms Act FAST and call 000 immediately.
What to do while you wait for an ambulance
- with many thanks for such timely information. See more at https://strokefoundation.com.au/
Identifying symptoms of a stroke early on and seeking immediate medical attention is critical because clot-busting drugs are only an option within three hours of the onset of a stroke, the researchers cautioned. If a stroke victim can get to the hospital within 3 hours of developing symptoms, there is a good chance that function can be restored - if the stroke is not the result of a brain bleed (in evaluating patients for inclusion in stroke ptotocols and prior to fibrinolytic stroke treatments, the medical professionals often use the guide to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stroke Scale).*
The study found that the average amount of time needed between the onset of a stroke and the moment the patient first received the catheter was about four hours and 20 minutes, and the average time it took for blood flow to be restored to the brain was five hours and 40 minutes.
There was a 6 percent lower chance of a good outcome for patients for every hour of delay in restoring blood flow to the brain, concluded a team led by Dr. Diederik Dippel, of Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam.
"This study highlights the critical importance of reducing delays in time to IAT for patients with acute ischemic stroke," they wrote. "Our findings imply that patients with acute ischemic stroke should undergo immediate diagnostic workup and IAT."
One expert in the United States agreed. "Stroke is a medical emergency, and approximately 2 million brain cells are lost every minute that it goes untreated," said Dr. Sanskriti Mishra, stroke fellow at North Shore-LIJ's Cushing Neuroscience Institute in Manhasset, N.Y. "It is essential that people are aware of the symptoms of a stroke -- such as sudden onset of facial droop, arm weakness, speech difficulty -- so they can seek medical care urgently," she said.
"This study shows that delay in treatment aimed at restoring blood flow in the brain reduces chances of recovery from stroke," Mishra said. "Patients with stroke should undergo an immediate evaluation for lifesaving procedures if their arteries are blocked by a blood clot."
The study was published online in the journal JAMA Neurolog Dec. 21, 2015 (HealthDay News) With many thanks for this Highly Important information.
* Many thanks also to MedicineNet for alerting me to this vital resource. With thanks also to ACLS Medical Training , 222 Broadway N STE 208, Fargo ND, 58102-4770, United States for their timely reminder of their guide to the NIH Stroke Scale. A stroke is a medical emergency. The swiftness of the medical professionals response and assessment for treatment is Vital for the person, as their loved ones search for an understanding of what just happened.
What happens in the Emergency Department?
"Emergency medicine is a specialty. Yes, we actually did residency training to learn how to work in the ED. This training lasted three to four years after medical school and is sometimes followed by another one to three years of additional training for subspecialty certifications, like pediatric emergency medicine, toxicology, hyperbaric and undersea medicine to name a few. In addition to being specialists in medical emergencies, we are trained to be the extension of all of the other specialists in medicine to figure out whether you have an emergency and how to best direct you from there because, unlike other specialists, we are available to see you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year."
Read more https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2017/12/10-things-might-not-know-emergency-department-2.html
What is a stroke?
A stroke, also known as a cerebrovascular accident or CVA, occurs when part of the brain loses its blood supply and the part of the body that the blood-deprived brain cells control stops working. This loss of blood supply can be ischemic because of lack of blood flow, or hemorrhagic because of bleeding into brain tissue. A stroke is a medical emergency because strokes can lead to death or permanent disability, plus there are now opportunities to treat ischemic strokes but that treatment needs to be started in the first few hours after the signs of a stroke begin. The patient, family, or bystanders, should call 000 and activate emergency medical services immediately should a stroke be suspected.
A transient ischemic attack (TIA or mini-stroke) describes an ischemic stroke that is short-lived where the symptoms resolve spontaneously. This situation also requires emergency assessment to try to minimize the risk of a future stroke. By definition, a stroke would be classified as a TIA if all symptoms resolved within 24 hours.
Be aware too that women have some different symptoms and warning signs than men:
Best to read the full article here
Many Women are Unaware of Female-Specific Stroke Symptom:
WEDNESDAY, May 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) --Stroke is the third leading cause of death in women, but many are unaware of warning signs and symptoms that are unique to females, a new study says.
Of 1,000 women surveyed, only one in 10 was aware that hiccups that occur with unusual chest pain is an early warning sign of stroke in women, said researchers from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, in Columbus.
Although men and women share some risk factors for stroke -- such as smoking, being sedentary and having high blood pressure -- others are specific to women, the researchers explained.
"Things like pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy and even something as trivial as a case of the hiccups that occur with unusual chest pain can all play an important role when it comes to strokes in women, and we need to be more aware of it," she added.
STROKE RISK FACTORS
There are a number of risk factors for stroke; some of these factors increase the risk of one type of stroke (hemorrhagic or ischemic), while others increase the risk of both types.
Ischemic stroke risk factors include the following:
●Age older than 40 years
●Heart disease
●High blood pressure
●Smoking
●Diabetes
●High blood cholesterol levels
●Illegal drug use
●Recent childbirth
●Previous history of transient ischemic attack
●Inactive lifestyle and lack of exercise
●Obesity
●Current or past history of blood clots
●Family history of cardiac disease and/or stroke
Hemorrhagic stroke risk factors include the following:
●High blood pressure
●Smoking
●Illegal drug use (especially cocaine and "crystal meth")
●Use of warfarin or other blood thinning medicines
Risk factors can increase the risk of stroke, but strokes can happen in people who don't know that they are at risk. In some cases, the stroke may be due to problems with the blood vessels in the brain or the blood itself. For example:
●A hemorrhagic stroke can occur if a person has an aneurysm (a weakness in a blood vessel wall), even if this has never caused symptoms in the past.
●An ischemic stroke may occur in a healthy person who takes certain medications (for example, estrogen replacement therapy increases the risk of blood clots).
Occasionally, strokes occur in people who have no risk factors.
Other stroke symptoms the researchers say are unique to women include:
"Women may have more headaches with their strokes. They actually can have hiccups with a little bit of chest pain with their stroke symptoms, sometimes sending them down the pathway of looking for either heart disease or indigestion," said Greene-Chandos.
"Pregnancy also increases their risk of stroke, particularly in the final months and the immediate period after delivering the child," she said.
Signs of stroke in both men and women can include sudden confusion; trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing; sudden difficulty walking; or loss of balance and coordination.
"Women do not think they are going to have a stroke. They think of it as a man's disease," said Greene-Chandos. "You have to know when you are having a stroke, you have to recognize that it's a stroke and you have to get to the emergency room and receive the medication."
Nearly half of those surveyed also said they didn't know that following a stroke, many women experience nerve damage, problems swallowing and depression, which can prevent them from getting needed rehabilitation.
Each year more than 137,000 Americans die from stroke, about 60 percent of them women, according to the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Copyright © 2015 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
With many thanks for such a well written article.
Please be aware that those who face disease and their Carers are at as great a risk, even perhaps more so because of the 24/7 sheer STRESS of the caregiving role, are at risk of a stroke.
“Mental health, in particular positive psychological factors such as having a purpose in life, is emerging as a very potent determinant of health outcomes,” said Patricia Boyle, PhD, Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “Clinicians need to be aware of patients’ mental state and encourage behaviors that will increase purpose and other positive emotional states.”
https://www.mdedge.com/neurology/article/99269/stroke/sense-purpose-may-reduce-risk-cerebral-infarcts
Do NOT delay. Ring 000 for an Ambulance IMMEDIATELY and explain your symptoms.
Call 000 IMMEDIATELY!!!!!!!! if any of these symptoms occur in someone suddenly:
Tell the operator Exactly where you are
Tell the operator the Exact symptoms you are seeing
- Difficulty speaking
- Difficulty understanding or confusion, especially with simple tasks
- Difficulty with muscle strength, especially on one side of the body
- Arm weakness
- Difficulty with numbness, especially on one side
FAST stands for:
• Face – Check their face. Has their mouth drooped?
• Arms – Can they lift both arms?
• Speech – Is their speech slurred? Do they understand you?
• Time is critical. If you see any of these symptoms Act FAST and call 000 immediately.
What to do while you wait for an ambulance
- If the person is conscious, lay them down on their side with their head slightly raised and supported.
- Do not give them anything to eat or drink. Loosen any restrictive clothing that could cause breathing difficulties. If weakness is obvious in any limb, support it and avoid pulling on it when moving the person.
- If they are unconscious, check their breathing and pulse and put them on their side. If they do not have a pulse or are not breathing start CPR straight away.
- If you are unsure how to perform Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) the ambulance call taker will give instructions over the phone.
- with many thanks for such timely information. See more at https://strokefoundation.com.au/
Identifying symptoms of a stroke early on and seeking immediate medical attention is critical because clot-busting drugs are only an option within three hours of the onset of a stroke, the researchers cautioned. If a stroke victim can get to the hospital within 3 hours of developing symptoms, there is a good chance that function can be restored - if the stroke is not the result of a brain bleed (in evaluating patients for inclusion in stroke ptotocols and prior to fibrinolytic stroke treatments, the medical professionals often use the guide to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stroke Scale).*
The study found that the average amount of time needed between the onset of a stroke and the moment the patient first received the catheter was about four hours and 20 minutes, and the average time it took for blood flow to be restored to the brain was five hours and 40 minutes.
There was a 6 percent lower chance of a good outcome for patients for every hour of delay in restoring blood flow to the brain, concluded a team led by Dr. Diederik Dippel, of Erasmus MC University Medical Center in Rotterdam.
"This study highlights the critical importance of reducing delays in time to IAT for patients with acute ischemic stroke," they wrote. "Our findings imply that patients with acute ischemic stroke should undergo immediate diagnostic workup and IAT."
One expert in the United States agreed. "Stroke is a medical emergency, and approximately 2 million brain cells are lost every minute that it goes untreated," said Dr. Sanskriti Mishra, stroke fellow at North Shore-LIJ's Cushing Neuroscience Institute in Manhasset, N.Y. "It is essential that people are aware of the symptoms of a stroke -- such as sudden onset of facial droop, arm weakness, speech difficulty -- so they can seek medical care urgently," she said.
"This study shows that delay in treatment aimed at restoring blood flow in the brain reduces chances of recovery from stroke," Mishra said. "Patients with stroke should undergo an immediate evaluation for lifesaving procedures if their arteries are blocked by a blood clot."
The study was published online in the journal JAMA Neurolog Dec. 21, 2015 (HealthDay News) With many thanks for this Highly Important information.
* Many thanks also to MedicineNet for alerting me to this vital resource. With thanks also to ACLS Medical Training , 222 Broadway N STE 208, Fargo ND, 58102-4770, United States for their timely reminder of their guide to the NIH Stroke Scale. A stroke is a medical emergency. The swiftness of the medical professionals response and assessment for treatment is Vital for the person, as their loved ones search for an understanding of what just happened.
What happens in the Emergency Department?
"Emergency medicine is a specialty. Yes, we actually did residency training to learn how to work in the ED. This training lasted three to four years after medical school and is sometimes followed by another one to three years of additional training for subspecialty certifications, like pediatric emergency medicine, toxicology, hyperbaric and undersea medicine to name a few. In addition to being specialists in medical emergencies, we are trained to be the extension of all of the other specialists in medicine to figure out whether you have an emergency and how to best direct you from there because, unlike other specialists, we are available to see you 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year."
Read more https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2017/12/10-things-might-not-know-emergency-department-2.html
What is a stroke?
A stroke, also known as a cerebrovascular accident or CVA, occurs when part of the brain loses its blood supply and the part of the body that the blood-deprived brain cells control stops working. This loss of blood supply can be ischemic because of lack of blood flow, or hemorrhagic because of bleeding into brain tissue. A stroke is a medical emergency because strokes can lead to death or permanent disability, plus there are now opportunities to treat ischemic strokes but that treatment needs to be started in the first few hours after the signs of a stroke begin. The patient, family, or bystanders, should call 000 and activate emergency medical services immediately should a stroke be suspected.
A transient ischemic attack (TIA or mini-stroke) describes an ischemic stroke that is short-lived where the symptoms resolve spontaneously. This situation also requires emergency assessment to try to minimize the risk of a future stroke. By definition, a stroke would be classified as a TIA if all symptoms resolved within 24 hours.
Be aware too that women have some different symptoms and warning signs than men:
Best to read the full article here
Many Women are Unaware of Female-Specific Stroke Symptom:
WEDNESDAY, May 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) --Stroke is the third leading cause of death in women, but many are unaware of warning signs and symptoms that are unique to females, a new study says.
Of 1,000 women surveyed, only one in 10 was aware that hiccups that occur with unusual chest pain is an early warning sign of stroke in women, said researchers from Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, in Columbus.
Although men and women share some risk factors for stroke -- such as smoking, being sedentary and having high blood pressure -- others are specific to women, the researchers explained.
"Things like pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy and even something as trivial as a case of the hiccups that occur with unusual chest pain can all play an important role when it comes to strokes in women, and we need to be more aware of it," she added.
STROKE RISK FACTORS
There are a number of risk factors for stroke; some of these factors increase the risk of one type of stroke (hemorrhagic or ischemic), while others increase the risk of both types.
Ischemic stroke risk factors include the following:
●Age older than 40 years
●Heart disease
●High blood pressure
●Smoking
●Diabetes
●High blood cholesterol levels
●Illegal drug use
●Recent childbirth
●Previous history of transient ischemic attack
●Inactive lifestyle and lack of exercise
●Obesity
●Current or past history of blood clots
●Family history of cardiac disease and/or stroke
Hemorrhagic stroke risk factors include the following:
●High blood pressure
●Smoking
●Illegal drug use (especially cocaine and "crystal meth")
●Use of warfarin or other blood thinning medicines
Risk factors can increase the risk of stroke, but strokes can happen in people who don't know that they are at risk. In some cases, the stroke may be due to problems with the blood vessels in the brain or the blood itself. For example:
●A hemorrhagic stroke can occur if a person has an aneurysm (a weakness in a blood vessel wall), even if this has never caused symptoms in the past.
●An ischemic stroke may occur in a healthy person who takes certain medications (for example, estrogen replacement therapy increases the risk of blood clots).
Occasionally, strokes occur in people who have no risk factors.
Other stroke symptoms the researchers say are unique to women include:
- dizziness not associated with vertigo,
- headaches,
- numbness over the entire body that is more severe on one side.
"Women may have more headaches with their strokes. They actually can have hiccups with a little bit of chest pain with their stroke symptoms, sometimes sending them down the pathway of looking for either heart disease or indigestion," said Greene-Chandos.
"Pregnancy also increases their risk of stroke, particularly in the final months and the immediate period after delivering the child," she said.
Signs of stroke in both men and women can include sudden confusion; trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing; sudden difficulty walking; or loss of balance and coordination.
"Women do not think they are going to have a stroke. They think of it as a man's disease," said Greene-Chandos. "You have to know when you are having a stroke, you have to recognize that it's a stroke and you have to get to the emergency room and receive the medication."
Nearly half of those surveyed also said they didn't know that following a stroke, many women experience nerve damage, problems swallowing and depression, which can prevent them from getting needed rehabilitation.
Each year more than 137,000 Americans die from stroke, about 60 percent of them women, according to the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.
-- Mary Elizabeth Dallas
Copyright © 2015 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
With many thanks for such a well written article.
Please be aware that those who face disease and their Carers are at as great a risk, even perhaps more so because of the 24/7 sheer STRESS of the caregiving role, are at risk of a stroke.
“Mental health, in particular positive psychological factors such as having a purpose in life, is emerging as a very potent determinant of health outcomes,” said Patricia Boyle, PhD, Associate Professor of Behavioral Sciences at the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “Clinicians need to be aware of patients’ mental state and encourage behaviors that will increase purpose and other positive emotional states.”
https://www.mdedge.com/neurology/article/99269/stroke/sense-purpose-may-reduce-risk-cerebral-infarcts
Do NOT delay. Ring 000 for an Ambulance IMMEDIATELY and explain your symptoms.