Stroke, Know Your Risk and Warning Signs

Published on May 04, 2009

Stroke, Know Your Risk and Warning Signs

Everyone has some stroke risk.Stroke Risk Score Card 

A few stroke risk factors are beyond your control.

Uncontrollable Risk Factors:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Race
  • Family History
  • Previous Stroke or TIA

If you have one of these risk factors, it is even more important that you learn about the lifestyle and medical changes you can make to prevent a stroke.

Medical stroke risk factors include:

Previous stroke, previous episode of transient ischemic attack or "TIA," high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, atrial fibrillation and carotid artery disease.  These medical risk factors can be controlled.  Talk with your doctor about what will work best for you.

Lifestyle stroke risk factors include:

Smoking, being overweight and drinking too much alcohol.  You can control these lifestyle risk factors by quitting smoking, exercising regularly, watching what and how much you eat and limiting alcohol consumption.

Warning Signs

If you are at risk, it is especially important to be familiar with the signs of stroke. A stroke is an interruption of the blood supply to any part of the brain - sometimes called a "brain attack." It can occur at any time without warning.

Here are the signs and symptoms of stroke:

  • Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
  • Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
  • Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
  • Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
  • Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Learn the FAST method to recognize stroke symptoms:

F = FACE
Ask the person to smile; does one side of the face droop?
A = ARM
Ask the person to hold both arms outstretched; does one side drift downward?
S = SPEECH
Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence; is his or her speech slurred?
T = TIME
If anyone experiences any of these symptoms, call 911 and transport the person to the nearest stroke center hospital.

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