Stroke Signs Often Not What People Expect

By Charnicia E. Huggins

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Only about 2% to 3% of California stroke victims receive treatment for the condition, researchers report. New study findings suggest this may be because many do not correctly identify the signs of stroke, particularly if the symptoms take more than a few seconds to develop.

``People have the idea that it has to be this full-blown paralysis on one side,'' lead study author Dr. Anne B. Jacobs, executive director of the Peninsula Stroke Association in California, told Reuters Health. But they're missing some of the more subtle signs, she said.

Jacobs and her colleagues surveyed 75 stroke survivors and found that many did not associate their symptoms with those listed by the National Stroke Association (NSA). The findings are published in the July/August issue of the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases.

``Although they were experiencing the symptoms, the manner in which they were identifying the symptoms did not match the National Stroke Association symptoms,'' she explained.

For example, the NSA describes most stroke symptoms--such as blurred or decreased vision, numbness or weakness--as having a sudden onset, yet less than 5% of the respondents said that their symptoms appeared suddenly.

Some said the process took as long as 15 minutes--a time frame that many clinicians would indeed call sudden, Jacobs said.

Thus, because many failed to recognize the early signs of stroke, they also failed to act quickly to treat the condition, the report indicates.

Jacobs related the anecdote of a grandmother who, while reading a bedtime story to her grandson, noticed that she was having problems turning the page, and that the words on the page started to get blurry. Rather than seek immediate medical attention, however, the grandmother finished reading the story and later went to bed. The next morning her daughter found her in a semi-comatose state, Jacobs said.

Noting the grandmother's blurred vision and loss of sensation in her hand, Jacobs pointed out that ``there's rarely only one symptom.''

``Tune into your body and realize what's going on,'' she said.

In light of the findings, the investigators recommend that storytelling--i.e., anecdotal examples--be combined with traditional public education efforts to help individuals better identify stroke symptoms.

SOURCE: Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases 2001;10:200.

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