BONUS: Before you croak, prevent the stroke.

A stroke occurs when blood vessels carrying oxygen and nutrients to the brain suddenly become blocked or burst. When this happens, part of the brain can’t get the blood and oxygen it needs, so the affected brain cells die, which can lead to permanent damage.

Being able to identify the symptoms of a stroke can ensure efficient and fast action to be taken thus possibly improving the outcome of the stroke. The symptoms of stroke appear suddenly and often there's more than one symptom at the same time.

The symptoms of a stroke:

• Weakness or numbness in the face, arm, or leg on one side of the body.

• Sudden confusion.

• Sudden loss of speech, or trouble speaking or understanding speech.

• Sudden loss of vision.

• Sudden dizziness, loss of balance, or trouble with walking.

• Sudden severe or unusual headache.

A stroke is a medical emergency and it is extremely important to act as fast as possible.

Act FAST:

• F - Face drooping

• A - Arm weakness

• S - Speech difficulty

• T - Time to call emergency services

FACE: Ask the person to smile and see if one side of the face and mouth droops or does not move.

ARM: Ask the person to lift both arms in front of them and keep them up and see if one arm drifts down or does not move as it should.

SPEECH: Ask the person to repeat a short sentence and see if the person uses the correct words or if the person is slurring.

TIME: Make a note of the time of onset of symptoms and call emergency services immediately when noticing symptoms.

Causes of stroke:

Strokes can be caused by factors such as family history, and lifestyle habits. Although not much can be done about family history, maintaining a healthy lifestyle is of utmost importance to reduce the risk of stokes:

The following lifestyle habits might increase the risk of strokes:

• High blood pressure

• High cholesterol

• Smoking

• Physical inactivity

• Poor diet

• Excessive alcohol intake

• Overweight, obesity

• Diabetes

Preventative measures and early detection of strokes are essential to reducing the risk and impact of strokes.

Therefore, make sure to do regular health checkups, keep an active and healthy lifestyle, quit smoking, increase physical activity, and keep low-stress levels.

Make sure always to act FAST, and you might just save someone's life.