Symptoms of Stroke

Do you know how to tell if you're having a stroke? If you have any doubts then check out the American Heart Association website.

I thought everyone knew how to tell if they were having a stroke but I was wrong. I got a call at 2 a.m. from a friend that had gone numb on the left side of her body. She had been having sporadic numbness for 8 hours but hadn't taken any action. As a result of not taking action she'll have months of rehabilitation and tremendous expense before she recovers all her faculties. She is lucky that it wasn't worse.

For those of you in too much of a hurry to read the American Heart Association website, here's the 25-cent version--any imbalance in strength or control between the right and left side of your body whether arm, leg or eyesight needs to be checked out.

Strokes need a doctor's attention while there's still time to get some medication into the blood stream. If you wait until the blood gets shut off to the brain, your life is going to change and it won't be for the better!

Take a deep breath,

Dr. Ron