Know How to Spot the Signs of Stroke
The increasingly long nights, the bitter biting winds, and the smoggy gray skies can only mean one thing: Winter is upon us. If you’ve fired up your air purifiers and made your appointment for your flu shot, great work! But there’s one more winter health hazard that’s worth keeping on your radar. Research has shown that cardiovascular diseases are more prevalent during the winter months (1). Since you already know what to do to lower your risk of heart disease, we asked Beijing United Family Hospital (BJU) Neurologist, Dr. Brian Lu, to tell you how to spot the symptoms of another important cardiovascular disease – stroke.
A stroke happens when a part of your brain loses its blood supply and runs out of oxygen, resulting in brain tissue damage. This can happen if a blood vessel in the brain becomes blocked and blood can’t pass through it, or if a blood vessel bursts and causes the brain to swell, damaging the brain tissue.
Strokes are most common in people who have hypertension, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, or a family history of stroke. Other risk factors include poor diet, inactive lifestyle, obesity, excessive alcohol consumption, and smoking. Being a man and being older also increase your risk.
Strokes can sometimes be hard to spot. However, the quicker you can get to a hospital, the better your prognosis. That’s why it’s a good idea to be familiar with the signs of stroke, especially now that winter is here, so you can take quick action if you or your loved ones start to show symptoms.
Dr. Lu advises to go to the hospital immediately if you start to feel a sudden onset of the following symptoms:
1) Numbness of the limbs;
2) Paralysis;
3) Dizziness;
4) Headache;
5) Double vision;
6) Difficulty swallowing;
7) Ataxia (difficulty walking or standing); or
8) Slurred speech accompanied by dizziness.
Dr. Lu stresses that if any of these symptoms come on very suddenly, this could be a sign of stroke. If you can get yourself to a hospital within an hour, your treatment options will be better.
If all that is too hard to remember, try to keep in mind the acronym FAST:
Face: Does your face droop on one side if you try to smile?
Arms: Can you keep both arms lifted without one arm drooping down?
Speech: Can you repeat a sentence without slurring or having trouble getting the words out?
Time: If you have these symptoms, time is of the essence. Get to a hospital right away.
Dr. Brian Lu is BJU's new English- and Mandarin-speaking Neurologist. He has 20 years of clinical experience and is board-certified by the neurological branch of the Chinese Medical Association. To make an appointment with Dr. Lu, please call the BJU Service Center at 4008-919191.
References:
1. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3662093
2. www.cdc.gov/stroke
3. www.webmd.com/stroke
Want to learn how to prevent heart disease? BJU Cardiologist Dr. Shuling Bai explains.
Keen to reduce your risk of stroke? Learn all about hypertension and how to avoid it.