How to detect a Stroke

Cerebral vascular accident (or Stroke) is one of the most common conditions in the world. Only in the UK, there are 100,000 cases per year, that is one every 5 minutes. It is a very serious problem that can devastating consequences for the rest of the person’s life.

A stroke (or Cerebral Vascular Accident) is a serious problem and happens when the flow of blood to the brain tissue is decreased or stopped

Although it is believed that it affects only the elderly, more than a third of the people that suffer a stroke are under 65 years old. A stroke happens when the flow of blood to the brain tissue is decreased or stopped by a blockage or the rupture of a vessel carrying the blood to the brain.

There are two main types of  Cerebral vascular accident, isquemic stroke occurs when there is a blood clot that blocks the free flow of blood to the tissue, making the tissue starve from oxygen and die. This clot can come from another part of the body and block the blood vessel, this is called an embolic stroke. However, this block can build up in the actual vessel within the brain (thrombotic stroke).

Another possibility is to suffer a haemorrhagic stroke. In this case the blood vessel is ruptured and the blood flows out of the vessel. This also prevents the brain tissue from receiving blood.

The symptoms of a Cerebral vascular accident are a very painful headache, dizziness, problems when walking, blurred vision, difficulty understanding others or paralysis. In the case of suffering a stroke time is key, the damage can be significantly reduced if the treatment is started as early as possible. That’s why experts have created an acronym to help people detect as soon as possible the situation. The BE FAST technique helps you detect very early the symptoms that another person or yourself is suffering a stroke. “B” stands for balance, the loss of it can be an indicator. E stands for eyes, the loss of vision/double vision. F is for face dropping, A is for weakness of an arm, S is for speech difficulty and finally T stands for time to call for an ambulance.

With this easy tip we can detect very early a stroke and speed up the process of getting to help, reducing the damage produced.

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