I want to lay stress on the warning signs of a stroke. We all need to be aware of these as a stroke can strike anyone anywhere and with stroke time is brain. The sooner the stroke is recognized and help is sought the better is the outcome.

So let us get to the heart of the topic. The following are some of the warning signs of an impending stroke/ stroke in evolution:

1) Sudden onset of speech difficulty. Either unable to speak or unable to comprehend speech (the patient can speak but cannot understand, so whatever he speaks makes no sense. We call this jargon speech). At times the problem with language can be more subtle: unable to name things (we call this nominal aphasia or anomia), the speech is slurred (we call this dysarthia).

2) Sudden onset of weakness in one arm or leg usually of the same side. For example weakness in right arm and right leg or in the left arm and left leg. This weakness may be prominent and the patient may not be able to move the arm and leg at all or it may be more subtle.

3) Sudden onset of numbness in one arm or leg usually of the same side. Numbness is hard to define and patients may use words like “weakness”, “tightness”, “dead feeling” or “my one side feels as if I slept on it”.

4) Sudden onset of facial weakness. One side of the face usually starts to sag, the smile is crooked when the patient attempts to smile and the patient may drool from the angle of the mouth.

5) Sudden onset of gait problems: the patient is unsteady and falls when attempting to walk. The balance is off. Patient is clumpsy and appears “drunk”.

6) Sudden onset of visual problems: patient may have an episode of transient loss of vision in one eye ( I felt as if a curtain decended in front of my eye). We call this transient monocular blindness and this is a TIA (transient ischemic attack). Patients may also complain of a field cut (unable to see one part of the visual field).

7) Acute loss of hearing in one ear especially in the elderly (this is a rare sign of a stroke).

Nitin Sethi, MD