Do You Know How to Spot a Stroke?

Learn How to Act F.A.S.T

Every year, about 795,000 Americans suffer a stroke. Tragically, 140,000 of them die as a result of the event. Of those that survive—and there are 7 million stroke survivors in the U.S. today—two-thirds live with a disability (that’s 4.6 million for those keeping track). In fact, stroke is the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States.

Caused by a tear in a blood vessel or a clot in the brain that blocks blood supply, strokes can be catastrophic. In some cases, 32,000 brain cells die in just one second. Over the course of a full minute, a stroke can kill up to 2 million more cells. In many cases, the damage is irreversible, which is why learning to recognize the signs of a stroke is essential.

The American Stroke Association recommends everyone learn the following F.A.S.T. warning signs of a stroke:

Using the letters in F.A.S.T., you can spot a stroke by looking for: 

• F = Face Drooping – Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person's smile uneven?

• A = Arm Weakness – Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

• S = Speech Difficulty – Is speech slurred?

• T = Time to call 911 – Stroke is an emergency. Call 911 immediately. Note the time when any of the symptoms first appear.

Other stroke symptoms that could signal trouble include:

• NUMBNESS or weakness of face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body

• CONFUSION, trouble speaking or understanding speech

• TROUBLE SEEING in one or both eyes

• TROUBLE WALKING, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination

• SEVERE HEADACHE with no known cause

If you suspect you or someone else is having a stroke, it’s critical that you seek medical attention right away. Immediate treatment may minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and even prevent death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that patients who arrive at the emergency room within 3 hours of their first symptoms often have less disability 3 months after a stroke than those who received delayed care.

And lest you think strokes only happen to ‘old people,’ a study published in the journal Stroke found an 11 percent overall rise in a particularly deadly and disabling type of stroke over a 15-year period in younger and middle-aged adults. 

To learn more about stroke prevention and risk factors, visit the CDC’s Stroke page. If you have concerns about your risk factors or other issues related to stroke, speak to your doctor.

Adam Cohen, MD, is the director of Emergency Medicine and an Emergency Medicine physician at SVMC.