A woman recognized her husband was having a stroke after she had attended a program on learning stroke warning signs. A man saw his wife behaving strangely and then noticed her unusual facial expression and immediately called for help. These are some of the University of Tennessee Medical Center’s stroke patient stories, and each have a positive outcome due to people recognizing stroke symptoms when someone was having one.

Approximately 700,000 Americans suffer from strokes every year. A stroke means that a person’s blood supply to the brain has been interrupted. Stroke remains the third leading cause of death in the United States, and it affects both men and women. Above all, it is extremely important to recognize the warning signs of stroke and get immediate help.

Here are the stroke warning signs you should be able to identify.

• Sudden weakness, paralysis or numbness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden onset of double vision, dimness or loss of vision

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• Sudden difficulty speaking or understanding language
• Sudden severe headache without apparent cause
• Unexplained dizziness, unsteadiness or loss of balance, especially in combination with other stroke symptoms

Stroke is largely preventable through a healthy lifestyle. Know if you are at risk of a stroke. Some things you can do to prevent stroke include controlling high blood pressure, losing and maintaining a healthy weight, not smoking, exercising regularly, limit alcohol, control cholesterol, manage diabetes and consume less salt and fat.

All strokes – even symptoms that seem to have passed – require emergency medical treatment and should be taken very seriously. Recovering from a stroke can continue throughout your lifetime and greatly depends on the severity of the stroke and whether or not immediate treatment was received.

Call 911 immediately if you or someone around you shows any signs of stroke. Know the symptoms and how to recognize them. You, too, could save a life, and it might even be your own.

Read more about UT Medical Center’s Primary Stroke Center Certification – the first certified Primary Stroke Center in the Knoxville region.

Click here for more information about stroke.