A Brief on Stroke Tests And Stroke Symptoms According to the medical professionals, stroke is a condition where a blood clot or ruptured blood vessel or artery interrupts blood flow to an area of the brain. It is caused when oxygen and glucose (sugar) flowing to the brain is less in required quantity, which leads to the death of brain cells and brain damage. According to a statistic from World Health Organization, 15 million people suffer stroke worldwide each year. Of these, 5 million die and another 5 million are permanently disabled. Such is the intensity of the damage caused by a stroke. Medical professionals say that most of the patients who die or get disabled from the stroke don’t know its symptoms or precautions. Therefore, worldwide campaigns are run in order to let people know of the stroke symptoms and the precautions.
A stroke can be mild or severe but its effects can be lessened by being able to identify early on and seek immediate treatment. This is where is very important. But we will talk about that later. First let’s see the symptoms of a stroke:
The most common of the stroke symptoms is trouble with walking. A patient might stumble or experience sudden dizziness, loss of balance while walking. Also, he might also face trouble with speaking and understanding. He may slur words or be unable to find the right words to explain what’s going on. Another symptom of a stroke is paralysis or numbness on one side of patient’s body or face. He may not be able to raise an arm, or one side of his mouth may droop when he tries to smile. A patient suffering from stroke might also not be able to see in one or both eyes. He may suddenly have blurred or blackened vision, may see double. In some cases, patients also experience sudden, severe headache, which may be accompanied by vomiting, dizziness or altered consciousness.
If a patient is experiencing any of these symptoms, he can perform few simple stroke tests to figure out whether a stroke is happening to him. He can try to raise his arm and keep them up. If he is not able to do so, then he is suffering from stroke. Other thing he can do is try and smile, or repeat a simple sentence. If one side of his mouth droops while smiling, and words slur while speaking a sentence, he is suffering from a stroke. These tests only take few seconds, but prove to be really useful in identifying a stroke. Once a stroke is identified, it is highly recommended to call 911.