Can you spot the signs of stroke?

Each year around 150,000 people have a stroke in the UK, and over 60,000 die from one. Stroke is the third most common cause of death after heart disease and all cancers.

It is also the biggest cause of disability. More than 300,000 people in the UK now live with moderate to severe disabilities due to strokes.

Strokes happen when the blood supply to the brain is suddenly disrupted. In most cases, this is caused by either a blood clot in a vessel stopping the flow of blood to the brain (ischaemic stroke) or a burst blood vessel (haemorrhagic stroke). About seven out of 10 strokes are caused by blood clots.

Once brain tissue is deprived of oxygen, it starts to die. If you are not killed outright by a stroke, the amount of brain damage and disability caused depends on the part of the brain affected, and – crucially - how quickly the person is treated.

Knowing the signs of stroke and getting medical treatment immediately can save a life and also reduce the amount of brain damage which can occur.

How to spot a stroke?

The early signs of a stroke can easily be remembered by referring to this simple FAST checklist:

• Face: Facial weakness. Can the person smile? Has there mouth or eye drooped?
• Arm: Does it show weakness? Can the person raise both arms?
• Speech: Problems speaking. Can the person speak clearly and understand what you say?
• Time: If they have any of these signs, it's time to call 999

Between 80-90% of people having a stroke will experience one or more of the above signs. However, other symptoms people may experience include:

• Sudden confusion
• Sudden or severe headache without reason
• Dizziness
• Difficulty swallowing
• Weakness, numbness or paralysis down one side of the body
• Loss of consciousness
• Loss of bladder or bowel control
• Sudden blurred, double or reduced vision, in one or both eyes. Visual disturbances - seeing starry patterns or zig-zag lines - may also occur

What is a mini-stroke (TIA)

A mini-stroke or transient ischaemic attack has the same symptoms of stroke. However, these may only occur for a few minutes or hours. As one in five people who experience a TIA go on to have a full-blown stroke, it is vital you get to a doctor immediately if this happens to you.

Risk Factors

Age is a major risk factor for stroke. The vast majority of strokes occur in people over the age of 45, although younger people and even children can have them.

They are more common in men, but women are more likely to die from then. Strokes are also more common in people of African-Caribbean descent.

Other risk factors for stroke include:

• Having high blood pressure
• Having high cholesterol
• Being overweight or obese
• Smoking
• Having a poor diet - high in salt and saturated fat
• Drinking too much alcohol
• Having diabetes
• Having had a heart attack

Having high blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for stroke which, in turn, is linked to having too much salt in our diet. It's estimated that around 19,000 stroke and heart attacks could be prevented in the UK each year, if we all cut back on our salt intake.

Adults should eat no more than 6g or one teaspoon of salt a day, including that in processed food. As three quarters of the salt we eat comes from processed foods, it makes sense to check the labels and choose those containing the lowest amounts of salt.

Stroke prevention

Six steps that can help reduce the risk of getting a stroke are:

• Have your blood pressure taken by your GP
• Check your cholesterol levels are within the normal range
• Stop smoking
• Check you are a healthy weight
• Cut back on dietary salt
• Cut back on your alcohol intake

More information

Try the NHS Stroke test to see if you can spot the signs : The FAST-O-METER.

This article was published on Thu 4 March 2010