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

Remember the late Yasmin Ahmad passed away due stroke while she was at TV3? She had a clot in her head and passed out. She was sent to the hospital to have the clot removed but remain in coma until her last breath.

I was spring cleaning my Yahoo mail box and read this email from Cute Mails. I think I'd love to share with my visitors and readers.

This is the content of the email:

A nurse sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can semember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously......Please read

STROKE IDENTIFICATION

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a littlefall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) but she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plateof 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 pm Ingrid passed away). She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the sign of a stroke , perhapsIngrid 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 neurologistsaysthat if hecan get to a stroke victim within 3 hours,he 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

Remember the THREE 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 says 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 (coeherently, e.g It is sunny out today)

R Ask him / her to RAISE both arms.

If he/she has trouble with any one of these tasks, call 999/911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New sign of a stroke: STICK OUT YOUR TONGUE. Ask the person to 'stick' out his/her 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 you can spread this news, you might save some lives.