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Recognizing A Stroke

A stroke happens when a blot clot occurs in an already narrowed blood vessel in the brain. Once that clot occurs, the brain will be deprived of blood and necessary oxygen, causing permanent brain damage to that area. People may have “mini strokes” in which they suffer from the same signs and symptoms but only temporarily, yet are at a very high risk of suffering from a full stroke. Here are a few signs and symptoms of a stroke:

• paralysis on one side of the body or face
• slurred speech
• dizziness
• confusion
• unequal sized pupils

Here are a few questions you can ask the person that you are expecting to have had a stroke.

• Ask them to smile. If they cannot smile fully it may be because they have a partial face paralysis.
• Ask them questions that they need to respond to. If they are incoherent or slur their speech they may have partial paralysis to the face or they are confused.
• Ask them to raise both arms. If they cannot raise both arms they may have paralysis to one side of their body.

The quicker you recognize the signs of stroke the faster you can get them help to reduce long-term brain damage.