Stroke, called a stroke, occurs because of obstruction in the cerebral arteries, leading to symptoms such as severe headache, loss of strength or movement on one side of the body, asymmetrical face, for example, and often, the person may pass out.
When these stroke symptoms appear, it is important to start first aid to avoid serious sequelae, such as being paralyzed or not speaking and, in some cases, they can remain for life, decreasing the person's quality of life.
Therefore, to help a person who is suspected of having a stroke, it is important to follow the following steps as soon as possible:
- Keep calm, also calming the person with suspected stroke; Lay the person down, placing them in a safe lateral position to prevent the tongue from obstructing the throat; Identify the person's complaints, trying to know if he has any disease or if he uses drugs; Call an ambulance, calling 192, informing the person's symptoms, the location of the incident, contact phone number and explaining what happened; Wait for help, observing if the person is conscious; If the person becomes unconscious and stops breathing, it is important: Start cardiac massage, supporting one hand over the other, without leaving your elbows bent. The ideal is to do 100 to 120 compressions per minute; Do 2 mouth-to-mouth breaths, with a pocket mask, every 30 cardiac massages; Resuscitation maneuvers must be maintained until the ambulance arrives.
In the case, when cardiac massages are necessary, it is important to pay attention to the correct way to perform the compressions, because if they are not done correctly they will not help the blood to circulate in the body. Therefore, when rescuing an unconscious person, the person should be kept lying flat and firm, and the rescuer should kneel on the side, on the side, to support the hands. Here is a video with details on how cardiac massage should be performed:
How to know if it is stroke
To be able to identify whether a person is having a stroke you can ask:
- Smile: in this case, the patient may have a crooked face or mouth, and one side of the lip remains drooping; Raising an arm: it is common for the person with a stroke not to be able to raise their arm due to lack of strength, looking like they are carrying something very heavy; Say a short sentence: in the event of a stroke, the person has slurred, imperceptible speech or a very low tone of voice. For example, you can ask to repeat the phrase: "The sky is blue" or ask to say a phrase in a song.
If the person shows any changes after giving these orders, it is possible that they have had a stroke. In addition, the person may show other symptoms such as numbness on one side of the body, difficulty standing up, and may even fall due to the lack of strength in the muscles and may urinate on clothing without even realizing it.
In some cases, the patient may have mental confusion, not understanding very simple instructions such as opening his eyes or picking up a pen, in addition to having difficulty seeing and having a severe headache. Learn about the 12 symptoms that help to identify a stroke.
How to prevent a stroke
Stroke occurs mainly because of the accumulation of fat in the brain artery wall and this occurs mainly due to eating habits based on more caloric and fatty foods, in addition to physical inactivity, cigarette use, excess stress, high blood pressure and diabetes..
Therefore, to prevent stroke, it is important to do physical activity, have a healthy diet, stop smoking, perform tests regularly, keep blood pressure and diabetes under control, always following medical recommendations.
