Stroke Symptoms & Life Saving Information on National Stroke Awareness Month

Were you aware of the fact that somebody is suffering from a stroke every forty seconds & that in every four minutes somebody is dying as a result? Did you know that 1 from 3 adults suffers from hypertension (high blood pressure) still around twenty-one per cent are unaware of them having it.

May is the month designated as National Stroke as well as High Blood Pressure Awareness Month. Stroke is the 3rd main reason for mortalities in the U.S. & even the key reason for grave long-lasting disablement. While majority of the strokes arise in individuals in their mid-sixties or more, they could arise irrespective of age.

We are always busy with something or the other, spending majority of our time catering to the requirements of those around – our boss, spouse, children, kin – all but ourselves.

If you, for one, don’t want to be the one included in the 795000 people in America who would suffer from a novel or recurring stroke in 2011 then start by taking proactive measures right away.

One of the foremost things you can set right is empowering yourself with the knowledge about identifying stroke symptoms so that timely treatments could be administered to salvage lives.

The 5 key stroke symptoms pointed out by the American Stroke Assn. are:

• Abruptly feeling numb or weak in the facial, arm or leg area which is particularly one-sided.
• Abrupt bewilderment, difficulty trying to speak or understand.
• Abrupt problems faced trying to see in one or duo eyes.
• Suddenly finding it difficult to walk, giddiness or imbalance & lost coordination.
• Abrupt, acute headache with no identified reason.

Time is Crucial

Among the most crucial objectives of the National Stroke Awareness Month is to increase public understanding about stroke symptoms & the significance of obtaining prompt medical help. When a stroke sufferer receives FDA-consented clot-dissolving drugs within 3 hours of having experienced their foremost symptoms then they have a considerably lowered risk of experiencing lasting harm to the brain & lasting disablement arising as a result.

In the recent past, the NSA has laid emphasis on the significance of response to strokes deploying the ‘FAST’ approach.

F - Face – Asking the person to smile & checking whether one of the facial sides shows drooping.

A - Arm – Asking the individual for raising arms and check if one of them is drifting downwards.

S - Speech – Request the individual for repeating a basic phrase & observe whether it is slurry or sounding odd.

T - Time – In case you spot any of the just mentioned signs, immediately call emergency helpline numbers.

How to reduce your risk for stroke?

• Controlling blood pressure that places an individual at an augmented risk of experiencing a stroke. This could be done by exercising regularly, eating a healthful diet & avoid stress.
• Lowering cholesterol or LDL (bad cholesterol) levels via dietetic amendments like consuming increasing quantities of nut, seed varieties, apple, bean, oat bran & exercising regularly.
• Smoke cessation as this habit increases a person likelihood of suffering a stroke by four folds as compared to the non-smoking crowd.
• Treating sleep apnea condition if you suffer from it. In this sleep disorder, there is temporary stoppage of breathing due to airways obstruction or blockage from the soft tissue in the backside of the throat, collapsing & closing when asleep. Shedding merely ten per cent of one’s body weight can lesser these occurrences by over twenty percent. It is even better to skip intake of alcohols & sleep medicines which could be relaxing muscles of throat & causing this condition.
• Steer clear of trans fats which are present in heavily greased food items, foods that undergo baking & processing.
• Drinking alcohols moderately. Study findings have shown that excess consumption could augment risk for strokes though some trials have shown that consuming a single red wine glass a day might be offering some shielding.
• Prompting treating atrial fibrillation.
• Preventing & controlling diabetes.