The Claim: A Stroke Can Be Diagnosed in Three Steps

obmar · Site Admin Joined: 14 Apr 2006 Posts: 5697

Really?
The Claim: A Stroke Can Be Diagnosed in Three Steps
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By ANAHAD O'CONNOR
Published: May 9, 2006
THE FACTS Most people can spot the telltale signs of a heart attack. But a stroke?

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Leif Parsons
Studies show that stroke victims sometimes fail to realize that they have suffered an attack or to seek medical help until crucial hours later. Minor strokes are sometimes dismissed as migraines or fatigue.

So when an e-mail message claiming that anyone can diagnose a stroke in three simple steps surfaced recently, it was tantalizing. It claims that an untrained bystander can tell whether people have suffered a stroke by asking them to smile, raise both arms slowly and recite a simple sentence.

A small study presented at a meeting of the American Stroke Association in 2003 suggested the test.

But because the symptoms of a stroke vary widely, the three-step test can detect some victims but will miss many others, said Dr. Larry Goldstein, the director of the Duke Stroke Center.

Some of the more common symptoms of a stroke, for example, are problems seeing, an unusual headache, sudden numbness and trouble with coordination or walking — all of which the three-step test overlooks.

"The danger is that someone can have abrupt changes in their neurological capabilities that are dismissed because they aren't one of those three things in the test," Dr. Goldstein said.

In a statement, the American Stroke Association said it did not endorse the test. Dr. Goldstein added that people who suspect they suffered a stroke should call 911 immediately, since quick medical treatment is the only thing that can help.

THE BOTTOM LINE The symptoms of a stroke can vary so widely that a three-step test may miss them.

scitimes@nytimes.com

Radiate_Truth · Joined: 18 Aug 2007 Posts: 1056

That's understand...
Nobody wants to believe something like that could happen to them.
It's called DENIAL...

If you don't believe me ask my mom. She got up one morning, thinking she had a stroke. She takes baths not showers. Got in the tub to bath for work. Got dressed, put make-up on, fixed her hair, etc. Went out to get in car, drove herself to work, walked into work, paralysis on one side of her body, one of her co-workers ask her what was wrong. That's when she told them she thought she had had a stroke. They called my brother who just happened to come home from out of state. He came, picked her up and took her to the emergency room hospital. Ten minutes before it was time for me to go home, they call me and tell me this.

I lost it...
Almost had a nervous breakdown.