Don’t Ignore These Warning Signs Before a Stroke — They Can Save a Life

Content extracted from website: https://brightside.me/article/how-to-work-out-when-someones-having-a-stroke-34105/?utm_source=fb_brightside&utm_medium=fb_organic&utm_campaign=fb_gr_brightside_mini&fbclid=IwAR33KPyje_unySjMzcZzu7wzKH8zK0RrvigOyIX0GTVX0BWFxd6rVJAORHc

Neurosurgeons claim that if they are able to operate on a patient who’s suffered a stroke within 3 hours of it occurring, there is every chance that the person can make a recovery. But realizing someone is (or you are) having a stroke is not always straightforward for most of us who know little about medicine.

So here are some brief instructions to help you understand. We implore you to read them — you might just be able to save your own or someone else’s life one day.

How to understand that you are having a stroke

• Numbness in the left arm, leg, or the left side of the face.
• Trouble speaking and understanding other people’s speech.
• Complete or partial paralysis.
• Trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
• Dizziness and loss of consciousness.

There are four steps you can take to determine if someone is experiencing a stroke:

• Ask the person to smile (if they are having a stroke, they will be unable to do this)
• Ask the person to say a simple sentence (for example, ’The weather is great today’) - again, if they can’t manage it there is a high probability that they’re having a stroke.
• Ask them to try to lift both arms (if they’re having a stroke, they will only be able to do this partly or not at all).
• Ask them to stick out their tongue (if the tongue is ’crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke.

If the person exhibits even one of these symptoms, call the emergency services immediately.

A cardiologist has been quoted as saying if everyone who gets this information sends it to ten people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.