SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - May is Stroke Awareness Month, and it's time to get familiar with the symptoms -- since every second counts. Stroke is a leading cause of death and it can happen to anyone.
Dr. Anirudh Sreekrishnan, vascular neurologist and director of UCSF's stroke clinics, told KCBS Radio's Bret Burkhart on this week's "As Prescribed" that being able to recognize signs and symptoms is critical in preventing brain damage and long-term disability.
"We're talking about symptoms that occur out of the blue, that occur immediately and suddenly," said Dr. Sreekrishnan. "They usually involve one side of the body. So loss of function on one side of the body, whether it's a weak arm or a weak leg. It can also involve your speech. So difficulty speaking, trouble with speech, a confusional speech, or issues with vision, a loss of vision, acute onset double vision."
"These should be symptoms that should strike you as abnormal and immediately pick up the phone and call 911," he added.
When it comes to strokes, just remember "BE FAST."
"This is an acronym that we teach all our community members in order to recognize signs and symptoms of a stroke," said Dr. Sreekrishnan.
• B stands for balance, so a new change in balance resulting in falls.
• E stands for eyes, so either a loss of vision or acute onset double vision.
• F stands for face, so weakness of one side of the face, like a droopy smile.
• A stands for arms and legs, so weakness, new weakness in an arm or a leg.
• S stands for speech, so either trouble speaking, a confusional speech, or a nonsensical speech.
• T stands for time, to emphasize that if you notice these symptoms out of the blue, personally or with someone else, you should call 911 immediately.
"I tell patients all the time that as soon as they start experiencing symptoms or they notice a loved one experience those symptoms, they need to call 911," said Dr. Sreekrishnan. "These days, there are a lot of new emerging therapies that we can offer patients that can really save brain. And the only way we can offer these therapies is if we get them to the hospital as quickly as possible. When it comes to stroke, time is brain and every minute we wait is another set of dead brain cells. So presenting to a hospital as quickly as possible is the best way we can get the appropriate treatment."
There are two main forms of treatment that can help patients recover.
"The first is known as thrombolysis, which is essentially a clot busting agent that can be given to a patient who's experiencing a stroke. And the role of this medication is to help break up the clot that is lodged in a blood vessel that's causing the stroke symptoms," said Dr. Sreekrishnan. "The second major form of therapy we can offer is known as thrombectomy, which is actually a neurosurgical procedure where our expert neurointerventionalists and neurosurgeons can wire a catheter into the arteries of the brain to physically remove the clot that's impacting the blood flow."
While anyone can fall victim to a stroke, certain risk factors make it more likely to occur in some patients.
"There are three fundamental risk factors that we observe that contribute to stroke and stroke risk, and those are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes," said Dr. Sreekrishnan.
Those risk factors are becoming more common, and strokes are starting to affect people at a younger age.
"What we're starting to see more and more in a lot of our younger generation are really the amplification of those risk factors," said Dr. Sreekrishnan. "Higher rates of high blood pressure in younger patients, higher rates of obesity, heart disease, high cholesterol, and these end up putting these young patients at risk for strokes at a younger age."
Strokes can be prevented, and there are several actions you can take to reduce your risk factors.
"Controlling your blood pressure, controlling your cholesterol, controlling your sugars, and then also thinking about healthy diet and lifestyle modifications can help not only when we think about risk of stroke, but also heart disease," said Dr. Sreekrishnan.
Listen to this week's "As Prescribed" to learn more. You can also listen to last week's episode to learn about an innovative care model for adults with diabetes being pioneered by UCSF, here .
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
"As Prescribed" is sponsored by UCSF.
Most Popular
Comments / 0