Makes Sense to Me

Makes Sense to Me

I got this via email from my brother. It's essentially a PSA, and it makes sense to me, so I'll post it here:

Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue.

STROKE:Remember
The 1st Three Letters....S.T.R.

My nurse friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree.

If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.
Seriously..

Please read:

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) ... she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.

Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital-(at 6:00 p. m. Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today.

Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hour she can totally reverse the effects of a stroke ..totally.

He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours , which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR. Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke .

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(i.e. It is sunny out today)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue... If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail sends it to 10 people; you can bet that at least one life will be saved.

This site gets a lot more than 10 hits a day, maybe this will do someone, somewhere some good.

UPDATE: Ambulance Driver comments:

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hour she can totally reverse the effects of a stroke ..totally.

Not to hijack your comments for my personal tirade, but...

...Horse. Shit.

IF he can get clot-busting medication to a victim within 3 hours, and IF the stroke isn't hemorrhagic in nature, and IF there isn't some other contraindication to the medication, and IF the victim is taken to a dedicated stroke center...

THEN, the victim will usually have about a 30% reduction in the severity of symptoms, balanced against a 10% chance they will develop a life-threatening brain hemorrhage and die, or turn into a turnip at best.

That's why quite a few ER physicians and neurologists still refuse to jump onto the clotbusters for stroke bandwagon - still too risky, for too little proven benefit. It's a useful option, but nowhere near as rosy as this PSA paints it. The neurologist quoted is probably just a paid shill for Genentech pharmaceuticals. No one but a paid whore would make such broad statements.

Otherwise, it's pretty much correct.

Thanks for the clarification, AD.