e-Nagar

Normally any email forward goes into the trash bin, However with this coming for a doctor i know, i felt obliged to take a second look.

A lot of forwards are hoaxes with incorrect information, yes including the one with the number of Indians in NASA

The Email Forward.

INFORMATION EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW……… Blood Clots/Stroke – They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue

I will continue to forward this every time it comes around!

STROKE: Remember the 1st Three Letters….S.T.R. 

My nurse friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word.
I agree.

If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.
Seriously…

Please read:

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall – she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening

Ingrid’s husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital – (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don’t die. they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this…

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke…totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the ‘3′ steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(i.e. It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency numberimmediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke ——– Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another ’sign’ of a stroke is this: Ask the person to ’stick’ out his tongue.. If the tongue is ‘crooked’, if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

A quick search through google led me to this.

Thanks to Donna L. Pikula, DDS, MS and www.books2helpyou.com for the information.

The American Stroke Association does not recommend
or endorse the information in the “STR e-mail”. It seems the information originally came
from a scientific poster presented at the 2003 International Stroke Conference that
showed positive results from a very small study. This poster was one of 450
presentations presented by researchers at this Conference. Still curious I spoke with the
American Stroke Association by phone to ask what the problem was with the e-mail
(Why doesn’t they recommend it?). The answer is they feel the “STR e-mail” is
oversimplified and does not give people sufficient information as to how to identify a
problem when asking an individual to perform the three tests. The “STR e-mail” also
doesn’t explain that strokes often show symptoms on just one side of the body, so
bystanders should pay especial attention for problems that are unsymmetrical.

By contrast, stroke warning signs endorsed by the American Stroke Association are:

1. Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of
the body
2. Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
3. Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
4. Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
5. Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

They suggest calling 9-1-1 immediately if you experience symptoms!
Time lost is brain lost!

The American Stroke Association goes on to say:

1. Stroke is the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. and a leading cause of serious,
long-term disability.
2. Someone suffers a stroke every 45 seconds.
3. Someone dies of a stroke every 3 minutes.
4. Millions of brain cells die each minute a stroke is untreated.
5. Strokes are caused when a clot blocks the flow of blood to the brain. Deprived of
oxygen nerve cells begin to die, and function is lost in the part of the body that
area of the brain controls.
6. Within 3 hours of symptom onset, the clot-busting drug tPA (tissue plasminogen
activator) can reduce the long-term disability of a stroke.
7. Other treatments can include blood thinners, surgery, hospital care and
rehabilitation.
8. Timing is everything – get emergency help as quickly as possible – call 911 as
soon as a problem is suspected!

So, what if you didn’t research the e-mail before passing it on, would it have hurt
anyone? Probably not in this case, but it wouldn’t be giving your family the friends the
most complete, best advice either. The “STR e-mail” doesn’t even suggest looking for
sudden: vision problems, severe headaches, confusion, or leg numbness or weakness. So,
for stroke warning signs make sure to look for all of them and follow those recommended
by the American Stroke Association.

Bottom line — when it comes to evaluating information on the world wide web or
information received via e-mail:

1. View all on-line information with a healthy degree of skepticism until you have
confirmed its accuracy. Use reputable organizations or well-known health web sites
like www.webmd.com to further investigate medical information.

2. Don’t pass along e-mail with medical advice unless you have taken the time to
verify the source and its accuracy. Your family and friends will be grateful you
took the extra time.

3. Visit sites that specialize in keeping track of hoaxes, urban myths, scams, and
spam to help you confirm questionable information

1) www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html – this is a site offered by Ithaca
College Library. It offers “A Guide to Critical Thinking About What You See on
the Web.”

These other three sites can help you sort out hoaxes, urban legends, myths and
spam from true events or facts.
2) www.snopes.com
3) www.nonprofit.net/hoax
4) www.hoax-slayer.com

Separating fact from fiction on-line can take some time, but you and your family are well
worth it, especially when it comes to your health.

This is a copy of hte comment from Sally S at http://www.care2.com/c2c/share/detail/1005558