Stroke: Act FAST How to Recognize if Someoneis Having a Stroke Act F.A.S.T. FACE ARMS SPEECH TIME Askthe person to smile. Does one side of the face droop? Askthe person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. Are the words slurred? Can he/she repeat the sentence correctly? If the person showsanyof these symptoms, time is important. Call 911 or get to the hospital fast. Brain cells are dying. @ (NAPSA)—Each year, many of the more than 600,000 Americans who suffer the most common type of stroke, known as an ischemic stroke, receive the only Food and Drug Administration-approved medication known to improve their chances of recovery with lit- tle or no disability. More should be For example, Ken Hockridge, a paramedic, was on duty whenhefelt a pressure in the back of his head. “My speech was slurred and the right side of my body was weak,” he reported. He knew he was having a stroke. “I told my colleagues to get me to the hospital fast and that I needed Activase.” He urges patients getting the drug. Ischemic stroke occurs when an obstruction, such as a blood clot, to call 911 and get to the nearest becomes deprived of the blood and oxygen it needs and nervecells in clot buster, the most commonside blocks blood flow to the brain. When this happens, part of the brain the affected area die within minutes. Stroke is the leading cause of disability, and third-leading cause of death in the United States. Symptoms include impaired speech, blurred vision, numbness on one side of the body, or sudden, severe headaches. The medication helps restore blood flow to the brain by breaking up the clot. Patients can receive Activase (alteplase, also known as tissue plasminogen acti- vator or tPA), only if they begin treatment within three hours after their stroke symptoms start and only after they have had a scan to rule out bleeding in thebrain. stroke center or, if there isn’t one nearby, an emergency room, immediately at the first signs of stroke. Because the medication is a effect is bleeding, including bleeding in the brain, this is called intracranial hemorrhage (ICH). Not all patients with acute is- chemic stroke will be able to use Activase, including patients with recent or ongoing bleeding; recent (within three months) surgery or trauma or previous stroke; uncon- trolled high blood pressure; or problemswith bloodclotting. For more information, talk to your doctor and go to www.acti vase.com or phone (800) 821-8590. To find out where stroke centers are found, visit www.jointcommis sion.org/CertificationPrograms/ Disease-SpecificCare/DSCOrgs.
