How to Recognize a Stroke
November 19th, 2011 | 
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How do you recognize a stroke?
Symptoms of stroke appear suddenly. Try to detect these symptoms and be prepared to act quickly to help yourself or help someone with whom you are:
- No Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
- Sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding what is spoken.
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness or loss of balance or coordination.
- Sudden severe headache with no known cause.
If you suspect someone you know is experiencing any of these symptoms suggestive of a stroke, do not wait.
Now there are effective therapies to treat stroke must be administered in a hospital, but lose their effectiveness if not administered within the first 3 hours after onset of symptoms of a stroke.
Every minute counts!
How do you determine the cause of a stroke?
Physicians have several diagnostic techniques and imaging tools to help diagnose the cause of a stroke quickly and accurately. The first step in diagnosis is a brief neurological examination. When a patient arrives at a hospital with possible symptoms of a stroke, a health care professional, usually a doctor or a nurse, ask the patient or a companion what happened, what you observed, and when the symptoms began. Generally, there will be blood tests, an electrocardiogram and computed tomography scans (CT).
A test that helps doctors judge the severity of stroke is the Scale of Standard NIH Stroke (NIH Stroke Scale), developed by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and stroke (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke – NINDS). Health professionals use this scale to measure patient’s neurological deficits by asking questions and responding to perform various physical and mental tests. Other scales include the Glasgow Coma Scale, the Hunt and Hess Scale, Modified Rankin Scale and Barthel Index.
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