I received an email today and instead of forwarding it to 10 people, I thought I'd post the information here on my site.
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke. The trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
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 (STaR):
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 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
Another stroke indicator is to 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.
4 comments:
After a martini I can smile, but definitely not the other two. Not sure about the tongue. My language is crooked, though!
That's a nice entry...thanks. Good one to pass on for the people we care about (or happen to be with who are behaving strangely, or hopefully some combination of the two. I suspect/fear I may find myself in a situation on dates where I'm inclined to ask some of my dates to perform the STaR sequence - all single people can probably relate on some level). Here's another one for heart attacks, but disputed by experts. In a similar situation though, I'd try it and pop an aspirin. http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blcpr.htm
Cool Joe. Great info to share!
Oh absolutely Anonymous! Pop an aspirin. I can see the coughing thing working, but maybe not as well as needed for doctors to recommend it.
Ricardo, it takes more than one martini to make you stroke-like! It's at least three.
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