Strokes are life-threatening medical emergencies. It happens when blood can’t reach your brain because of damage in blood vessels. Knowing what to do when someone’s having a stroke could make all the difference.

Over 100,000 people have a stroke every year in the UK¹ and someone sadly loses their life every 15 minutes¹. But the resources in this field are advancing – there’s better awareness of symptoms, better emergency treatment and rehabilitation specialists. These improvements are building to a more optimistic future − there’s now 1.4 million stroke survivors in the UK today¹.

 

Spot a stroke

There’s also some clear signs to look out for when spotting a stroke. It’s all about thinking FAST¹. That’s short for Face, Arms, Speech and Time. If you think someone might be having a stroke, it’s important to check the following:

• Face: check their face and smile for any unevenness, drooping or numbness on one side
• Arms: see whether one arm is weak or numb. A helpful exercise can be asking them to raise both arms and looking whether one moved downwards
• Speech: listen to see if they’re having difficulty speaking − a simple phrase like ‘the sky is blue’ is a good way to check for any slurring
• Time: call 999 if you see any one of these signs. Every minute counts and the sooner someone gets help, the more likely they are to recover

 

Be aware

While a stroke can affect anyone, there’s some people who are at a higher risk than others. See if you, your family or friends fall into in any of the following groups²:

• Over 55
• Personal or family history of strokes or heart problems
• Smoking, drinking too much alcohol or not getting enough exercise
• Ethnically south Asian, African or Caribbean – these groups are more inclined to have high rates of diabetes and high blood pressure which increase chances of having a stroke

 

Getting help

While there’s no way to guarantee you’ll never have a stroke, there’s lots of organisations that offer specialist support − like the NHS or Stroke Association UK.

And (of course) healthy lifestyle choices work in your favour too. Smart Health’s here to help you with that – their experts can help you stay fighting fit through the right balance of nutrition and fitness. There’s also a 24/7 GP support to chat through your health. Or if you’re looking for a second medical opinion on any of your results, you’ll find an expert for that too.

Let’s spread awareness about strokes − so everyone’s prepared to help and act FAST. 

 

 

¹ Neurological conditions – Stroke, Brain Research UK, (last accessed 14/05/2024)

² Stroke – Causes, NHS, September 2022 (last accessed 27/03/2024)

 

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