June 1, 2023 – On the morning of his stroke, Evan Parker woke up feeling unwell. He remembers drinking a cup of coffee around 9 a.m. He had noticed a gentle headache over the past few days, but now it was much worse. He felt “a wave wash over him” and went to get a glass of water.
When Parker began his job at an agricultural retail company in Lafayette, LA, his boss immediately noticed the telltale symptoms of a stroke. “And she said, 'Oh my God, Evan, your face is drooping.'” Parker dismissed her concerns. He was only 27 on the time, and a stroke was in regards to the very last thing on his mind.
“I had no idea because I had never known anyone my age to have had this happen to them,” Parker said. “Older people I knew who had strokes had it happen in their sleep and stuff. A lot of older people I knew had died from it.”
But Parker's boss was persistent and called an ambulance for him. Only an hour passed between the onset of symptoms and his arrival on the hospital, however it made a vital difference.
Stroke because of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is increasingaccordingly Research published by the American Heart Association. A 15-year study found a national increase of 11%, with a 38% increase within the 18- to 44-year-old age group. But in keeping with a survey by the association.
“We're seeing a higher rate of stroke in younger people,” said Sheryl Martin-Schild, MD, medical director of stroke on the Louisiana Emergency Response Network. “We think this is at least partly due to the younger age at which risk factors for stroke emerge: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, smoking. And these things, over time, can lead to strokes occurring much earlier than the usual age.”
There are two sorts of stroke: ischemic stroke – a blockage or blood clot within the blood vessels to the brain – and hemorrhagic stroke – a leak or rupture of an artery within the brain.
“It's really hard to get people to think about stroke enough to be concerned,” said Thabele “Bay” Leslie-Mazwi, MD, a national volunteer expert for the American Stroke Association. He said patients sometimes dismiss their symptoms when the time for emergency care has passed.
Intermountain Healthcare in Utah built on the American Stroke Association's FAST model and created the acronym BE-FAST: Balance, Eye, Face, Arm, Speech and Time for stroke symptoms and awareness:
- B: Balance – sudden dizziness or lack of balance or coordination
- E: Eyes – sudden vision problems in a single or each eyes
- Q: Face – sudden facial weakness (does one side of your face droop?)
- A: Arm – weakness of an arm or leg
- S: Speech – sudden difficulty in speaking
- T: Time – time of onset of symptoms.
Leslie-Mazwi said probably the most common signs of a stroke are changes in speech and face. “Strokes that particularly affect the blood vessels at the back of the brain can sometimes be missed. But about 88% of stroke patients experience facial or speech impairment, so that's the majority of cases,” he said.
“BE-FAST now captures those vulnerable symptoms that were underrepresented in social media, such as sudden balance problems and sudden vision problems,” said Martin-Schild. “It improves the sensitivity of this screening tool to about 95% instead of 89%.”
Martin-Schild is a neurologist at Touro Hospital and New Orleans East Hospital. He says the three commonly misjudged signs of a stroke are sudden lack of balance, sudden visual disturbances or sudden, severe headaches.
A stroke may cause visual disturbances, reminiscent of double vision because of problems with the attention muscles, a results of nerve dysfunction following the stroke.
She said people mustn’t panic in the event that they notice the symptoms, but should seek help immediately if the illness appears suddenly.
When Parker arrived at Rapids Regional Hospital in Lafayette, Hospital staff immediately ran a wide range of tests on him. After a CT scan, they situated the stroke in his basal ganglia, a region near the middle of the brain that controls body movements.
“I think that was one of the biggest reasons for my recovery. It was such quick action on the part of everyone involved,” Parker said.
Since his stroke in 2019, Parker has recovered. He went on a weight-reduction plan for some time and lost about 60 kilos. He said he stopped eating sugar to keep up his weight and takes a blood thinner each day. He also takes cholesterol-lowering medication as an extra preventative measure.
“I tell people all the time to watch their cholesterol and blood pressure,” Parker said.
When Parker got here Touro Infirmary, Martin-Schild was capable of narrow down the reason for his stroke to a protein S deficiency, a rare genetic disorder that may cause blood clots.
Parker said knowing the signs of a stroke and acting quickly are crucial to surviving a stroke.
“Time is everything: The sooner you get appropriate treatment, the sooner you will be on the road to recovery and the better your recovery can be,” Parker said.
“It's important to be prepared and live without fear,” Martin-Schild said. “And being prepared means doing everything in your power to reduce your risk.”
Preventive measures include taking medications prescribed by your doctor and calling 911 if the situation worsens.
Meghan McKee, a physical therapist who has lived in North Carolina for 14 years, also noticed her symptoms early on. McKee had a patent foramen ovale (PFO), a hole between the left and right upper chambers of the center. So she informed her husband about the opportunity of a stroke and the signs of the BE-FAST symptoms that she was on the lookout for on StrokeAwareness.com.
“I always knew it could happen, but I also thought, you know, I'm young, I'm active, I'm healthy. I'm doing the right thing so that this can't happen to me,” McKee said.
At age 31, the stroke got here as a whole surprise. While watching a movie together with her husband, McKee had difficulty reaching for a water bottle. Her left hand hit the desk. McKee then reached for the bottle together with her right hand and choked on the water. Her husband noticed she was walking strangely as she stood up and called 911.
“I couldn't even recognize the symptoms in myself at that moment – that my whole left arm was flat and hanging down at my side,” she said. “I couldn't move my left leg. I was dragging it behind me.”
The hospital was only 4 miles away. McKee stayed within the hospital for 4 days and underwent surgery to shut the opening in her heart. As a physical therapist, she had treated women who had suffered a stroke after giving birth, and he or she knew that treatments like her surgery were aimed toward stopping a second stroke.
McKee also received speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. Within every week, her symptoms disappeared.
“To this day I still have deficits, I have limited strength in my hand and foot and my smile is still not completely symmetrical,” said McKee. “But other than that, I've been really, really lucky.”
Seven years after the stroke, McKee has two daughters. McKee shared her experience of surviving a stroke: “Time is brain. With every minute that passes, your brain could potentially be more damaged; your whole body is controlled by your brain. And when I say that, I mean your ability to walk and stand and talk and think and have your cognition and your memory.”
A delay can often result in a disability, she said.
Martin-Schild said early treatment and access to essential rehabilitation services would result in a very good recovery after a stroke. However, she said there have been differences in patients' access to each.
“It depends on your insurance whether they will cover your inpatient rehab, for example,” said Martin-Schild. “It depends on where you live, whether there are rehab facilities in your area, or whether you are physically separated from your family, sometimes hundreds of miles, during your most important rehab phase.”
People who can depend on the support of a team do best at any age when a stroke occurs, she said.
“We need more work and more resources in the area of public health. That's where we will have the greatest impact,” said Leslie-Mazwi. He beneficial a weight-reduction plan with as little salt and sugar as possible, in addition to animal products and never smoking.