Having a Stroke?

As we all continue to age, there comes a time when we might be a little concerned about having either a heart attack or a stroke while we are on the road enjoying the good ol' USA.

For most people, recognizing a heart attack is fairly obvious—severe chest pain, and possibly pain down the left arm. Interestingly, taking a deep breath or pressing down on the chest does not make the pain any worse. There are many other possible symptoms, but these are the most prevalent ones.

Stroke symptoms can be a weakness or feeling numb on the face, or an arm or a leg, but especially on one side of the body. Another symptom is seemingly sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding someone else. Also, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, and trouble wallking, being dizzy, and loss of balance or coordination are other signs of a stroke. Some strokes manifest themselves by a sudden and very severe headache with no know cause.

For most of us, we don't really have any idea of what a stroke feels like. But, it is comforting to know that there is a simple three-step test to determine whether a person is having/or just had a stroke.

Have the affected person do each the the following three things:

• Smile
• Raise both arms
• Say a simple sentence

If the "victim" can do each of the above steps, the good news is that he/she did NOT have a stroke.

A simple little test, yes, but important enough that we have it posted on the refrigerator door.