How to recognize a heart stroke

January 19th, 2006 by uday



I received this Fwd about steps to recognizing a heart stroke from my uncle, who happens to be leading the marketing team for Global hospitals (hyderabad, India).

    *How to recognize a heart stroke *

    Maybe you are in perfect Health to bother about this. But then,
    you may have an opportunity to save a family member, friend or
    stranger.

    During a outdoor dinner at a seaside resort near Chennai, a
    friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine 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, Lakshmi (name changed) went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.

    Her husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been
    taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm, Lakshmi passed away). She
    had suffered a stroke at the dinner- had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke perhaps Lakshmi would be alive today.

    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
    getting to the patient within 3 hours which is tough. There is nothing more life saving than getting the patient to the hospital in the FIRST ONE HOUR! The Golden Hour it is now known as to Doctors and emergency attendents alike!

    RECOGNIZING A STROKE

    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:

    • Ask the individual to SMILE.
    • Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
    • Ask the person to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (e.g…It is sunny out today). If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call emergency immediately and describe 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.
      Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and
      treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.

What I wondered was if the patient would have so much time (the email talked about the subject being close to normal through out rest of the party) on hands after suffering a stroke. Well, probably depends on the severity (mild, medium, severe) of the stroke etc.. but I am no medic, so donot quote me on it :)…

Posted in Health |

15 Responses

  1. ravi shankar Says:

    hai
    good informative one..I got this as a mail in my school groups.but i was doubting it’s authenticity..
    hope this would create awareness and reduce the deaths due to heart attacks..
    A Life saved is a life created..

  2. asankhaya Says:

    Hmm interesting stuff.. but i really m curious to knw how a neurologist can help save a victim of heart stroke..;)

  3. Archana Says:

    probably because he knows a lill about cardiology ;)

    kidding..

    but I was wondering about that myself and answered to myself thinking it has some neurological impact that he can help out with..

  4. Z000nie Says:

    Damn, there was no question like:

    Do you need mouth-to-mouth respiration in order to breathe??

    :(

    Nice and informative post btw.

  5. uday Says:

    @Zoonie: That would ‘un-stroke’ ‘em for sure !

  6. uday Says:

    yea, I think the neurology part of a heart attack is about avoiding post-stroke issues such as partial paralysis of hands or legs, loss of speech coherence etc..

    Thanks for bringing it up though asankhaya! I had to go look it up myself !

  7. uday Says:

    @Ravi: I hope it is true ravi. Atleast, I have not seen it on the urban myth web sites so far! :) ..so hoping it is true..

    Btw, check this site on urban myths out..its really cool !
    http://www.truthorfiction.com/anatomy.htm

  8. uday Says:

    Hey Ravi! I stand corrected!!
    It is true!!!
    I just found the link on truthorfiction ..

    http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/s/stroke-test.htm

  9. ravi shankar Says:

    hai uday

    thanks for the link..
    I too am happy that it turned out to be true ..
    I will try to get across to some of my friends and let them know these..
    Thanks

  10. Michael Chua Says:

    Very useful :) Must remember what you’ve taught on handling some1 having a heart stroke :)

  11. Archana Says:

    Thanks Michael!
    Please feel free to trackback this article if you like to comment on it.

  12. abu Says:

    hey archie,
    very good points ,me scribbled all this points in my bullshit brain,it may useful for me in later stages,hhhaaaa
    good one!keep posting!

  13. Archana Says:

    @abu: thanks bud! now, go save a life ..just kidding :)

    but seriously, something that can definitely come in handy!!

  14. uday Says:

    Nice response on this one. I say we should post more on health Miss. A J !

  15. Sangeeta Says:

    Hey, thanks for dropping by. You have a nice site here.

    As for ur question, well I guess I can relate to all of Lahiri’s characters so much that i can almost visualise my parents, me and my brother instead of the characters in the book.

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