A friend sent this to me and I thought it is worth passing on - after all, I might need one of you to know this at some point!! :D

Subject: Stroke Recognition

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 6:00am, 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.

It only takes a minute to read this-

Recognizing a Stroke
----- 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 an getting to the patient within 3 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
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:

1. *Ask the individual to SMILE.

2. *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

3. *Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. . . It is sunny out today) If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 999 immediately and describ e the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.

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.

BE A FRIEND AND SHARE THIS ARTICLE WITH AS MANY FRIENDS AS POSSIBLE, you could save their lives.

Margot

My dad had a stroke when he was 54 :(

He was on his own in a hotel room when he had it :(

Luckily for him his work colleagues raised the alarm as he hadn't come down to meet them for dinner :)

He was lucky as they got to him in time and although he was partially paralysed lived for another 9 years :)

Lucy
xx

That's worth knowing. Strokes run in my family, so it's good to be aware of these things. Thanks Margot! :)

Thanks Margot, It's always a good thing to know...

My mum had a stroke when she was 48 shes 54 now and still has weakness on her left hand side. 

Since having the stroke we have discovered she suffered 2 incidences of minor ones and didnt tell anyone, on one occasion one side of her face suffered a couple of seconds paralysis  the second time she was reading something and got a terrible headache all the text went blur, she had a splitting headache and said her speech seemed "different".  If we had of known we could have got her on medication to prevent the main stroke.

Also a person that has a stroke often thinks they are speaking normally and acting normally, and may resist you getting medical help.  Get medical help even against their will as the earlier they can get to hospital and get medication the better chances of recovery and if it aint a stroke you will just get a good telling off from the person lol.

Great 3 steps to determine if its a stroke or not tho I will tell everyone I know.

One of the reasons they need to act fast is so that they can identify whether it is a clot or haemorage (SP?).  If it is a haemorage (Know that sp wrong) they can operate and stem the flow, if it is a blockage they can thin the blood.  My Father in law obviously had something like this, very suddenly couldn't control his limbs and then collapsed, was rushed to hospital but it was 18 hrs before hospital did a brain scan - far too late to do anything.

Being cynical (especially seeing the  - send to ten people) I did a search on this even though it seemed to make sense.  What I found is something that may make it easier to remember
You have to act F A S T

Face - smile
Arms - raise
Sentence/Speak - coherently
Time - is of the essence

Thanks for that, Kerioak - I must admit that last little "send to" did make me hesitate, but I'd read this a couple of weeks ago - about the smile, raise arms, etc, but I do like that FAST!

Margot