Thursday, March 12, 2009

Praxis: Stroke Identification

With thanks to cyber-c who forwarded this to me.


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). She said she had 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 6:00 pm 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 instead.

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 and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE, coherently.. (i.e. It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

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

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..

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike, I read your bio a while back and saw that you have congestive heart failure.

I know many really good Chinese recipes (not herbs) that I learned over a very long period of time. Full of antioxidants, and how to cook them so the nutrients would not be lost or de-natured.

Start by drinking green tea too. Not teabags or anything like that: green tea like Gunpowder or LoongQing. I'll specify more in the email.

I am going to compile a thorough list and email it to you when I complete it.

Ni shi yi ge hao ren. Lao Tien baoyo ni shenti jiankang.
(You are a good man. God bless you and preserve your good health) A Lunar New Year blessing.

Anonymous said...

While its true that medical science has advanced stroke care in recent years, the treatments available are far from a sure thing. Yes, get to the hospital ASAP (even if it is more than 3 hours) but don't expect miracles. Stroke interventions are fraught with risk. While sometimes the treatment results can be amazing, other times the complications can be fatal.

Anonymous said...

Re: Anonymous

That is why preventive health is so important. Many, many maladies still cannot be treated effectively, and we must be very cautious to safeguard our health. Thats where preventive health comes in. They include alot of things, from watching your diet to having regular checkups at the doctor. Avoid things that will adversely affect your health, such as cigarettes, situations where there is high risk of contracting pathogens, etc... Little things you can do everyday and they will have a great positive influence on your health on the long run. Safeguarding your health is just like safeguarding freedom: You must be vigilant, all the time.

Anonymous said...

I note that while these warning signs are definitely helpful, (& likely would have helped to recognize that something was wrong in Ingrid's case), they should not give anyone a false sense of security, & make anyone think that they are a foolproof method of detecting a stroke.

All of them are based on detection of the usual symptom of partial paralysis on one side of the body or the other.

This paralysis is usual, but is NOT always present.

I had a major stroke 6 years ago, which lasted for nearly 42 hours before I ended up in the hospital - largely because I experienced none of the symptoms that these tests could have detected.

Chris

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this - it can help everyone, even those who would be our jailers or our murderers - but maybe saving their life might get them to listen to our side, instead of lumping us in with neo-Nazis, etc.

Congestive heart failure can largely be treated with large doses of CoEnzyme Q10 and other nutrients. Here is an article on CHF that you (or anyone else) might find interesting: http://www.lef.org/protocols/heart_circulatory/congestive_heart_failure_01.htm

Here's an article from the same source on strokes: http://www.lef.org/protocols/heart_circulatory/stroke_cerebrovascular_disease_01.htm

"LEF" is Life Extension Foundation. Full disclosure: I am a member and have been since the mid-1990s. For membership I get a monthly magazine and discounts on vitamins, etc., if I buy them. I make no money if someone joins or buys through them, on the peace of mind earned from helping someone else extend their life a bit and improve their ability to enjoy life.