October 28, 2003
Healthy Aging
Do you know the symptoms for stroke?
It came in the mail today. Sometime in the recent past, I must have responded to one of those "order-now" cards and decided I needed this publication. Probably because my friend Clara
had a stroke recently. Or maybe because I had a birthday last month and know the odds of having a stroke double every decade after age 55.
So now I have my own personal copy of the Harvard Medical School’s special report on "Stroke: Preventing and Treating Brain Attack."
"You know the signs of stroke — or do you?" That’s how the report starts. Well, I think I do.
The report outlines the classic symptoms as "sudden weakness on one side of the body, blurred vision, a crushing headache, face feeling numb, trouble speaking or, for that matter,
understanding what people say to you."
I seem to need periodic reminding about the signs of a stroke. I need to be retold that when someone exhibits dizziness, weakness (arm, hand or leg), numbness (one side of the body) or sudden
dimness of vision (particularly if it’s one eye only), the possibility that a stroke is imminent, or in play, is likely.
A Gallup survey found that an incredible 97 percent of people over 50 don’t recognize the warning signs of a stroke. I suspect the remaining 3 percent surveyed who do know these signs are
not all health practitioners. This survey suggests to me that perhaps our health providers are not as well-versed on this subject as we might prefer. Now that’s a little worrisome.
Immediate treatment in a hospital emergency room, preferably one that specializes in state-of-art stroke treatment, is crucial and the time frames are frighteningly tight. In the words of the
report, which I have now read cover to cover, "time is brain."
It’s essential to get someone in for diagnosis and treatment within 60 minutes of the actual stroke. Clot-dissolving drugs, administered rapidly, improve the odds of both survival and
reduced disability.
This is no small thing we’re talking about here. It is the leading cause of disability and the third leading cause of death in adults. Not only should we know the warning signs, we also need
to know that certain lifestyle factors double the risk of having a stroke. So, manage your hypertension, avoid excessive alcohol consumption and don’t smoke. Remember, too, that diabetics
are at greater risk.
I have now read my mail to you, or nearly. I’ve always felt that once you come to know something significant, particularly something health-related, you have a responsibility to share it.
And so, I’m donating this comprehensive little publication about "brain attack" to our local Bartel’s Health Library.
Consider a visit so you can look at the report more completely, check out other materials in the library and chat with the well-versed volunteers.
Once you’ve done that, even right now, after you’ve finished reading this column, I think you have the responsibility to share what you know. Go ahead, save a life.
Contact Bartel’s Health Library in the Smullin Center at Rogue Valley Medical Center by calling 608-5319.
Sharon Johnson is an assistant professor in family and community development at OSU Extension and a member of the Senior Advisory Council. Reach her at s.johnson@orst.edu.
