Stroke: Act F.A.S.T. (Face, Arms, Speech, Time)

By Carissa Stella

Strokes are considered the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability. Understanding what a stroke is and how to determine if you or someone in your care is having a stroke can be instrumental in reducing the long-term effects.

How does a stroke occur?

A stroke is an attack on the brain in which a blood clot stops the flow of blood to a portion of the brain. It can be in an artery that provides blood and oxygen from the heart or in a small blood vessel, but in either case affected portions of the brain can be killed resulting in brain damage.

Providing fast medical intervention is the best way to aid a person experiencing a stroke. Administering drugs approved by the Federal Drug Administration within the first three hours of the onset of the symptoms gives a patient the best chances to have a full recovery.

The symptoms of a stroke encompass, but are not limited to:

 

• Trouble speaking or overall confusion. Speech may be slurred or the person cannot form words properly.
• Sudden trouble with vision in one or both eyes.
• Loss of balance or other trouble walking.
• Sudden numbness in an arm, leg or in the face, typically only on one side.
• Sudden severe headache with no immediately identifiable cause.

Strokes happen suddenly, requiring FAST action –

If one or more of these symptoms become apparent in a person, there are a few simple things you can do to determine if they are having a stroke . Making it easy to remember, the National Stroke Association has developed a list of tests that will require fast action. In fact, they developed the acronym FAST to help care givers remember the symptoms.

Face: Have the person smile and look closely to see if both sides are even or if one side tends to droop.

Arms: Have the person raise their arms to determine if one side tends to slowly drop lower.

Speech: Have the person respond to any simple sentence to determine if they can pronounce clearly. If their words are jumbled or appear difficult to speak, they are likely having a stroke.

Time: When a person is having a stroke, time is of the essence. Make a note of the time when the symptoms first appear and get them to an emergency stroke facility or to the emergency room as soon as possible.

Types of stroke

There are two essential types of strokes – hemorrhagic and ischemic, with ischemic, or TIA being the most common occurring in roughly 85 percent of all strokes. These are due to a blocked artery in the brain typically from a blood clot or plaque build-up. Hemorrhagic strokes are caused by blood leaking into the brain. Although this type comprises only 15 percent of all strokes, they account for over 30 percent of stroke deaths.

Know what to look for

The potential of a person suffering a stroke or a TIA increases with age and once a person has suffered a TIA, or a mini-stroke, their chances of suffering an additional stroke are even greater. By knowing the symptoms and what to look for, and by getting the person to the emergency room in a timely manner, you can reduce the effects of a stroke and in many instances reverse the effects of the stroke.

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