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Stroke

What are the Warning Signs of a Stroke?

Summary & Participants

A stroke can be a life-altering event but its warning signs can sometimes be difficult to identify. Experts discuss the exact steps to take when you suspect you're suffering a stroke.

Medically Reviewed On: October 01, 2003

Webcast Transcript

THOMAS KWIATKOWSKI, MD: There are many warning signs of a stroke. I think the important thing to keep in mind is that they happen quickly. A stroke does not occur over a long period of time; it's a sudden event.

ANNOUNCER: Having a stroke is something that can happen to anyone and does happen to approximately three-quarters of a million people a year. Recognizing you're having a stroke is crucial and the signs are varied.

THOMAS KWIATKOWSKI, MD: Some of the more common warning signs of stroke would include sudden weakness on one side of your body or sudden numbness on one side of your body.

Another warning sign might be difficulty with speech, either your speech is slurred or you're unable to speak normally as you have in the past. Someone who becomes suddenly confused could be having a stroke. Some patients actually may lose vision in one or both eyes or partial loss of vision in both eyes as a warning sign of stroke.

ROSE GONZAGA-CAMFIELD, RN: You see somebody who is staggering with unsteady gait. There's a loss of balance. Those people who have a severe headache, the worst headache of their life, those are people that you really have to watch.

THOMAS KWIATKOWSKI, MD: The important thing to realize is that these symptoms happen quickly and require very, very prompt action on your part to get to a hospital to see if we can do something to prevent you from having a stroke.

ANNOUNCER: What's tricky with stroke is that sometimes the symptoms may be momentary, but they are a warning that must be acted on promptly.

THOMAS KWIATKOWSKI, MD: Sometimes patients have these symptoms and they last only a few minutes, and that's what we call a TIA or a transient ischemic attack. And that goes away and someone might feel that they are fine after that, but it's very important to keep in mind that that is a warning sign of a stroke. So that if you ever had any of the symptoms of the stroke, even if it goes away quickly, it's very, very important to see a doctor or go to a hospital quickly. Because that is a warning sign that you could have a more severe stroke in the near future.

ANNOUNCER: Ignoring the signs of a stroke and not getting to a hospital immediately could make a serious problem even worse. A problem that might have been taken care of with prompt attention.

ROSE GONZAGA-CAMFIELD, RN: Let's say this happens like 10:00 in the evening, they say, "Let me go to bed. Maybe when I wake up in the morning, I'll be fine." They don't wake up; they don't get up, because when they get up, they don't realize that one side is weak. They get up and they fall on the floor.

THOMAS KWIATKOWSKI, MD: Sometimes when I'm at work, I find out that, at home, the patient had very mild symptoms. By the time they called an ambulance and arrived at the hospital, the symptoms had gotten much worse.

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