Signs of Stroke

Young people can have strokes, kids can have strokes. You and I are susceptible too. Strokes - they're not just for old people anymore.

There's different kinds of stroke - right side, left side, base of the head, small strokes, catastrophic strokes - but most of the time if you know the basics of what a stroke looks like and get to a hospital, your chances of survival and recovery go up. That's the main thing to remember.

If you watch "House" there was an episode with a photographer having a stroke who remembered a list of symptoms called "FAST" and self diagnosed at the beginning of the episode. (It was house, so stroke wasn't her only problem) F = face, is it lopsided? Is your smile crooked? A = arms, are you able to hold them up to the same level without effort, or does one sag? S = speech (I think, might also have been smile) - is it slurred or irregular. And the last letter stood for Time, that fast help could save her and that a clock was ticking on her life. Very poetic, very effective. But it doesn't list all the symptoms.

Vision trouble and sudden, painful headache are also symptoms, along with dizziness as well as weakness and trouble speaking. This could be a stroke, go seek help. It could be something else, but don't screw around with it. Hospitals are friends, they have doctors and drugs which are excellent for just this sort of thing.