One of the most frequent and unfortunately dangerous cardiovascular complications is stroke. As a fact, roughly one in every four American dies only because of a stroke. Specifically, in old aged adults, stroke is the primary cause of a long-term disability in today’s generations. By reading through the following pointers, you can maybe help someone in the days ahead and get them to seek medical attention at the earliest, by making them understand its meaning, symptoms and prevention too.

What does it mean by a Stroke?

Let’s try to put it in the simplest words; the stroke is a clinical condition that occurs when there is an interruption or disturbance in the blood flow to your brain. This is going to cause your brain cells to die due to oxygen and other nutrients deprivation. This stroke can be of a few forms ranging such as:

• Ischemic (caused by narrowing or blockages of the blood vessels).
• Hemorrhagic (caused by blood vessels breaking or leaking).

Most of the strokes are not life threatening but they can cause permanent diasbility.  Stroke can cause loss of function to variable degrees. Reduced mobility, physical pain, difficulty speaking, making a person to depend on the other individual for their personal care.  The inability to do any work or dependency or burden on the family members is the thing which makes stroke such a devastating illness.

What are the various symptoms of Stroke?

There are a few notable signs of a stroke before it happens to anyone. And for that, you just need to remember here a quick acronym: FAST. This stands for the following symptoms:

1. (F) Face: When someone attempts to smile and their face starts sagging or drooping, then you can be sure that it’s a symptom of stroke.
2. (A) Arms: The person should try to lift both their hands to see if there is any feeling of heaviness or drooping noticed in the hands.
3. (S) Speech: Another common indicator of stroke is speech. The affected person will blurt out strange or nonsensical talk or use slurred words.
4. (T) Time: The most valuable thing you can do now if you find out the symptoms are present is to call the hospital right away.

Note that similar to the ischemic stroke, there is something called the ‘silent stroke’. As the name says, the affected person won’t have any visible signs and symptoms but can be detected effectively using a brain scan. However, a few silent stroke symptoms include the following:

1. Sudden lack of balance.
2. Temporary loss of basic muscle movement (bladder included).
3. Slight memory loss.
4. Sudden changes in mood or personality.
5. Dizziness.
6. Problems walking or staying balanced or coordinated.
7. Confusion or trouble understanding other people.
8. Issues with cognitive skills and ability.

How to Recognize any Stroke Symptoms?

When you know how to recognize a stroke and call upon the physician at the right time, then you can greatly minimize the risk of death or even any long-term disability and possibly save lives.

So, just simply, ask the person (affected) to smile and see if he or she is drooping when smiling. Similarly, ask them to raise their hands to see if either of the hands drop down immediately. Make a casual conversation and check if the person’s speech is abnormal or incomprehensible. If that’s the case, then you should get to the nearest hospital or medical centre as FAST as possible!

And adding to whatever told, you must also recognize if the person is standing and walking normally or face any difficulties in balancing their body. Make sure to ask the person how their vision is. Sometimes, double-vision, blurred vision, etc. can also denote stroke.

Tips for Stroke Prevention

The general tips for stroke prevention include:

• Consuming a healthy diet.
• Completely avoiding smoking and drinking.
• Regular physical exercise.

Since moderate lifestyle changes can help you maintain good health. Not only proper diet, physical workouts, etc. make you cut down the symptoms of stroke, but they also help in the prevention of various other lifestyle diseases, cardiac problems, and even conditions similar to stroke!

Take a Cardiologist Consultation Online

Most common causes of ischemic stroke are clot formation in the arteries of the brain or clot formation in the heart which can move with the blood stream and occlude the arteries of the brain. Patient need evaluation with ecg echocardiogram and holter monitoring to find out the cause of stroke. If there is hemorrhagic stroke then common cause will be uncontrolled or poorly controlled high blood pressure for which medicines can be optimized.

If found to have a stroke, then subsequent diagnostic workup, other risk factor management and even long-term secondary prevention do require the support and diagnosis of a cardiologist in Bangalore. You must feel free to take up a digital cardiologist consultation in Bangalore at your convenience to make sure that the acute and subacute complications of stroke are properly managed and treated with care.

Conclusion

By understanding the early signs of stroke, you must seek medical attention at the earliest possible. Get to identify a person affected by stroke using the acronym FAST. Never hesitate to call your nearest physician in case someone is found to have a stroke or doubted to have experienced any symptoms and signs of a stroke.