Stroke—When Every Minute Counts

Did you know? Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the

United States and the leading cause of long‐term disability.

We know that a stroke can be terribly debilitating, but do you know

the signs and symptoms of a stroke? The National Stroke

Association has developed a simple acronym for stroke signs and

symptoms –Think FAST.

F is for Face – Is there facial droop or asymmetry upon smiling?

A is for Arm – When someone holds both arms up in front of them,

does one arm drift or is it weak? Is there any numbness of the arm?

S is for Speech – Does the person have difficulty speaking or

understanding? Is the speech slurred.

If any of these symptoms are present the best thing to do is call

911.

Stroke is a medical emergency caused by the decrease of blood to a

part of the brain. There are two types of strokes. The first and

most common is an ischemic stroke caused by a blood clot or a

narrowing of an artery that has cut off blood supply.

The second is hemorrhagic stroke, caused by bleeding in or

around the brain. This type only accounts for about 13 percent of

all strokes and may be characterized by extremely severe

headaches.

Seeking immediate treatment of a stroke is essential. Early

treatment may greatly decrease the risk of long‐term disability. For

every minute a stroke goes untreated, as many as 1.9 million brain

cells are lost.

Long gone are the days when there was not much to be done for

stroke victims. There have been amazing advances in medicine and

hospital processes to treat stroke patients, but nationally, less than

5% of patients get to the hospital in time to receive treatment. A

stroke resolves in about eight hours, and a patient must come into

the hospital within three hours of stroke symptom onset to

receive acute treatment.

We know that many risk factors for stroke are modifiable – you can

do something today to reduce your risk for stroke!! Risk factors

included: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease,

diabetes, smoking, heavy alcohol use, physical inactivity, obesity,

and atrial fibrillation.

San Ramon Regional Medical Center has partnered with the

American Heart/American Stroke Association to increase

awareness of stroke. The Stroke Association has some excellent

resources for decreasing the risks of stroke, including

“Life’s Simple 7”.

Please visit www.heart.org/MyLifeCheck to see how you can take

control and reduce your risk of having a stroke. Other resources

include:

http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/

http://health.nih.gov/topic/Stroke

http://www.stroke.org/site/PageNavigator/HOME