Stroke Awareness Month (BEDM Day 27 Bonus)

May is considered stroke awareness month and when I saw the opportunity when someone asked on Facebook if anyone would be interested in writing a post to help promote stroke awareness. I quickly jumped on it as my grandma passed away from a stroke back in October of 2003 when I was 12 years old. She was walking into D&W when she suffered her stroke. She was rushed to the hospital and after tests we found out that they couldn't operate because it was too deep in her brain. She then later passed away. She was 80 years old.

I don't think stroke awareness is a popular awareness but it should be because just like a heart attack,someone can suffer from a stroke. It can be a family member, a friend or even yourself. Do you know how often someone suffers from a stroke in the U.S? Every 40 seconds! Also, about 800,000 people have a stroke every year. That's insane. Strokes are also the No. 1 preventable cause of disability with 80 percent of strokes that are preventable!  Did you know that there is an acronym for strokes?  I'll be honest and say that I didn't know this acronym. Actually only 9 percent of people can identify all the letters in the F.A.S.T acronym for stroke.

F - Face Drooping - Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile.

        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? Are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence like: “The sky is blue.” Is the sentence repeated correctly?

        T- Time to call 9-1-1 - If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get them to the hospital immediately.

*When you recognize a stroke and immediately call 9-1-1, the person has a greater chance of getting to an appropriate hospital quickly and being assessed for treatment options like a clot-busting drug or clot-removing device.

Famous people who has suffered a stroke 

Bob Barker 

   Mary Kay Ash

Dick Clark

      Betty Ford   

(Famous People Who Have Had Strokes - Famous People Are Human, 2016)

      Take the #StrokeHero Quiz:  You don’t need superpowers to be a Stroke Hero. You can be a Stroke Hero by knowing F.A.S.T, the warning signs of stroke, so you’re ready to take action.  http://strokeheroquiz.org/ 

References:

Stress Awareness Month Website 

Famous People Who Have Had Strokes - Famous People Are Human. (2016). Retrieved May 27, 2016, from http://www.famouspeoplearehuman.com/index.php/famous-people-who-have-had-strokes/

 

     <3 Amanda