STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters: S.T.R.

[Marius_Hancu]

[Received this from someone. I thought this is worthwhile posting]

* S Ask the individual to SMILE.
* T Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently).
* R Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters...S.T.R.


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

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:
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 evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm, Ingrid 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 don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition.

It only takes a minute to read this...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim
within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a
stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke
recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient
medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE
Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR .
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).
* 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 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.
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[El Diablo]

A stroke treated within 4 hours MIGHT be partially or even entirely reversible (using clot-dissolving medication) but only if it is a thrombotic stroke, which refers to a "clot" or thrombus blocking a blood vessel. The other type of stroke, hemorrhagic, occurs when a vessel ruptures; those are not benefitted by the aforementioned medication, and frequently have a dire prognosis.

 

[Nuke]

Sounded a little like one of those urban myth emails that makes the rounds, but a check on snopes.com shows this one to be true. A good thing to commit to memory.

 

[BuffBakerGA]

Nope, it's not a urban legend... I'm 33 and I just had a stroke in October 05' and that's how they happen. I ran into the door jam and I thought "WTF, I just ran into the door jam". Then I was slurring, very hot, and just wanted to go to sleep. Half of my right side of my face was frozen and my coordination was way off. Go straight to the hospital and yes, if you get there quick enough, they can reverse everything. Except your reaction time. I'm still getting frustrated that I can't play the net like I use to. I'm always late on the ball.

 

[bee]

Annals of Emergency Medicine, Feb 2001, vol 37, number 2. Treatment of Acute Ischemic Stroke: With thrombolytics, 12% get better, 6% get worse (have a bleed from the thrombolytic therapy) and of that 6%, 1/2 will die. But the 12% that improved with thrombloytic therapy had a significant response.

It can work if given soon enough, but I think it's overrated and oversold to the public.

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables instead of a diet containing large amounts of animal fats and sugar does decrease the incidence of strokes. Playing tennis can help, too!