5 Warning Signs That Someone Is Having A Stroke
Someone has a stroke every forty seconds, which adds up to over half a million stroke victims per year. Most fatal strokes may be avoided as long as you can detect when someone is having one.
A big stroke may produce extremely significant symptoms, including long-term issues due to the damage to the brain cells. A stroke might be deadly if care isn’t immediately received.
Here are five warning signs that someone is having a stroke.
1. Arm weakness.
What causes a stroke? A stroke develops when the blood flow to the brain is disrupted. In most instances, this occurs because of a blood clot or blocked artery. Strokes may also develop if the blood vessel itself is injured. Without a strong blood flow, the brain cells don’t obtain the oxygen they require to operate. If the supply is blocked for long enough, the brain cells will die.
Weakness is a reduction in the strength of one or more muscles. In the strictest sense, the medical definition of weakness relates to the loss of muscular strength. This article focuses upon disorders that may result in a detectable loss of muscle function. Weakness may be broad or may affect one muscle or muscle group specifically. Illnesses of the neuromuscular system, traumas, metabolic diseases, and poisons may cause detectable muscle weakness. Signs and symptoms of weakness might include difficulties accomplishing everyday chores, such as grooming or writing, walking issues, and loss of balance.
Stroke commonly causes paralysis or weakening of one or more of the muscles in your arm or shoulder. The muscles could feel tense instead of weak (spasticity). In general, a stroke could raise or decrease the muscular tone in specific muscles. You may also experience numbness or reduced sensation in your arm.
2. Dizziness, lack of balance, or issues with coordination.
Dizziness is a common medical condition. Many patients who experience dizziness have transitory or episodic symptoms that may last seconds, minutes, or hours, while others have chronic dizziness that remains constant for days to weeks.
In a tiny proportion of individuals, dizziness might indicate something more severe. Dizziness might signify that a stroke is happening. It is not simple for a doctor to identify whether the dizziness is significant. However, some sorts of medical tests could aid in making this judgment.
3. Head pain.
A stroke is a medical emergency. Sometimes it may also be linked with a headache. There are two sorts of strokes. Both are medical crises, and both may produce a headache.
Ischemic stroke develops when an artery that feeds oxygen-rich blood to the brain gets blocked. This shortage of blood flow induces brain cell death. A hemorrhagic stroke happens when an artery in the brain ruptures. This leads to bleeding into the brain. A frequent form of a hemorrhagic stroke is a subarachnoid hemorrhage. An intense headache is the only symptom for nearly a third of persons with this type of stroke.
Most people who suffer a stroke say that they had a headache prior. The position of the headache discomfort may vary on where the stroke is happening.
For instance, strokes inside the carotid artery (a large artery in the neck that carries blood to the brain) often generate a headache in the forehead.
On the other hand, strokes in the vertebrobasilar system, which provides blood to the back of the brain, may induce a headache at the back of the head.
4. Facial drooping.
Facial droop happens when there is a malfunction of the nerves in the face, preventing the facial muscles from performing correctly. The nerve injury may either be transitory or permanent. The facial droop may also be caused by injury to the region of the brain that transmits nerve impulses to the facial muscles.
In the event of a stroke, the face droop will come on quickly, and other muscles on one side of the body can also be damaged.
5. Trouble seeing.
A temporary visual loss might indicate an imminent stroke—it demands quick medical intervention. Or, it might be a sign of a stroke that’s already happened. Vision difficulties related to a stroke vary on where the stroke occurs.
In general, people who suffer strokes or other brain injuries that damage the vision centers on the right side of the brain will experience visual loss to the left. Patients who suffer strokes impair the visual centers on the left side of the brain will have vision loss to the right.
The Bottom Line
Use these signs to detect when someone is having a stroke. If you suspect that someone is having a stroke, contact emergency medical services immediately. You may help save a life or lessen the possibility of long-term impairment.