If you were told that something that could kill you was eighty percent preventable, would you listen?
Eighty percent of strokes are, indeed, preventable. Dr. Richard Bird, a neurologist with Peninsula Regional Medical Center, gives us some very important facts on not only how to prevent a stroke, but also how to help others learn to avoid them.
Stroke Risk Factors:
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Heart disease
- Smoking
- Family History
Dr. Bird says most strokes are an inclusion of a blood vessel in the brain that causes death of brain tissue.
The acronym, F.A.S.T. can be used to check the symptoms of someone who may be having a stroke.
F: Face, drop on one side when you ask them to smile
A: Arm, drifts down when you ask them to raise their arm
S: Speech, repeat a phrase. Is it slurred or strange?
T: Time, find out when the first sign was of the stroke
