Experts have highlighted the ‘red flags’ for a stroke, which can appear days earlier -and if detected, could save your life. Experts point to the importance of detecting early stroke symptoms to reduce brain damage
According to the German daily Frankfurter Rundschau, an average of 1.9 million nerve cells die every minute when a stroke occurs, a phenomenon that is usually associated with older people but can also affect young people.
Thus, early detection and action are crucial to preventing and reducing the potential damage caused by stroke. Experts point out the importance of paying attention to possible symptoms, intervening quickly, and thus gaining time.
Symptoms of stroke usually appear days or weeks before the stroke occurs. The first symptoms, known as transient ischaemic attacks, are varied, but the most common are the following: vision problems, ranging from blindness to double vision, orientation difficulties, spatial vision problems and sudden visual field restriction. Another common symptom is paralysis on one side of the body, such as paralysis of an arm or leg. The face may also be affected, with the corner of the mouth drooping or difficulty in smiling.
Attention should also be paid to speech problems, especially when the affected person starts to form strange, incorrectly structured sentences. Finally, it is important to be aware of headaches, especially if they are constant and severe and also if they cause nausea, vomiting, or loss of consciousness. Stroke can also be associated with dizziness when moving or swaying as if we have the sensation of being in a lift and we lose our balance or coordination.
Freiburg University Medical Centre said: “Every minute counts in the event of a stroke. Sometimes the first warning signs appear days or even weeks in advance and should be taken seriously.
“An average of 1.9 million nerve cells per minute are destroyed when the vessel occlusion that triggers a typical stroke occurs. Strokes can also affect young people. Early recognition and immediate action are therefore essential in order to prevent or at least minimise possible consequential damage. ‘Time is brain’ is the motto here
“This is because the greatest chance of effectively treating a stroke and subsequent cerebral infarction is within the first few hours after the onset of symptoms. Those who pay attention to warning signs can, therefore, act early and gain important time.”
A stroke often occurs suddenly, but sometimes, precursors appear days or even weeks beforehand. As the German Heart Foundation explains, such early harbingers are usually very similar to the symptoms of a ‘real’ stroke. Doctors refer to these signs as a ‘transient ischaemic attack’, or TIA for short. The difference from an actual stroke is that the symptoms of a TIA disappear after a short time. The German Heart Foundation emphasises that a transient ischaemic attack is also an emergency, as the risk of another stroke with permanent consequences is high.
A TIA, like a stroke, is characterised by the following symptoms:
- Visual disturbances up to and including blindness: sudden restriction of the field of vision, disturbances in spatial vision, double vision, orientation difficulties – new research has also revealed indications of risk of stroke in the eyes
- Symptoms of paralysis on one side of the body, such as paralysis of an arm or leg, a weird feeling on one side of the body, impaired sensation of touch, such as a foot that has fallen asleep
- Facial symptoms such as a drooping corner of the mouth or difficulty smiling
- Speech disorders such as choppy or slurred speech, problems finding words, incorrect sentence formation, telegram-style speech, and speech comprehension disorders; in rare cases, those affected can no longer speak at all
- Sudden severe headache caused by sudden circulatory problems in a certain region of the brain or haemorrhaging into the brain tissue may be associated with nausea and vomiting, loss of consciousness or confusion possible after a certain time delay
- Dizziness with unsteady gait, spinning dizziness, swaying dizziness, feeling as if you are hurtling down a lift, feeling of losing balance or coordination