Is It A Stroke? Is It A Heart Attack?

[Bernie]

I received the following from a friend the other day and thought I should pass it on as I never knew what to do in such situations.

IS IT A STROKE? IS IT A HEART ATTACK?

This might be a lifesaver if we can remember three
questions!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify.
Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster for the stroke
victim. A stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people
nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say any bystander can recognize a stroke
by asking three simple questions:

* Ask the individual to smile.

* Ask him or her to raise both arms.

* Ask the person to speak a simple sentence.

* If he or she has trouble with any of these tasks,
call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

After discovering that a group of non-medical
volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness
and speech problems, researchers urged
the general public to learn the three questions.

They presented their conclusions at the American
Stroke Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread
use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and
treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.

Is it a Heart Attack

A cardiologist says if everyone who gets this e-mail
sends it to 10 people, you can bet that at least one life will be
saved.

Read this... It could save your life!!

Let's say it's 6.15 P.M. and you're driving home
(alone of course), after an unusually hard day on the job.
You're really tired, upset, and frustrated.

Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your
chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and upinto your jaw. You
are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home.

Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make
it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the
course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself.

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE

Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart
attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating
improperly and who begins to feel faint,
has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.

However, these victims can help themselves by coughing
repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should betaken
before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged,
as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.

A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two
seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt
to be beating normally again.

Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing
movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.
The squeezing pressure on the
heart also helps it regain normal rhythm.

In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.

Tell as many people as possible about this. It could
save their lives!!

[eddie]

When my paternal grandmother had a stroke in 1989, she dropped things about 6 weeks prior to having her stroke. I was only 13 but felt something was wrong. After her major stroke, she was paralyzed on the left-side. Her daily thoughts became incoherent as she was having several mini-strokes. She lived another 2 years in this agonizing state. The only saving grace was the fact that her mind was not aware of what she was going through.