BE FAST: Recognizing the Signs of a Stroke

The statistics about strokes in the United States are eye-opening. A stroke occurs every 40 seconds. Unfortunately, someone dies from stroke every three minutes and 14 seconds, but many do survive, often thanks to quick intervention.

Since early intervention is important, our team here at Gill Neuroscience, under the expert direction of board-certified neurologist Dr. Paul Gill, thought it would be a good idea to review the signs of stroke.

To do this, we’re going to explain an easy-to-remember acronym — BE FAST — as well as provide you with some basic stroke information.

Stroke basics

Strokes and heart attacks are grouped together as heart disease, which has been the leading cause of death in the US for more than 100 years.

While heart attacks occur in the heart, strokes are events in your brain. More specifically, a stroke occurs when something blocks the arteries to and within your brain or one of these arteries bursts. 

When either of these happens, certain areas of your brain are deprived of oxygen, which can lead to brain cell death.

Far and away, the leading type of stroke is an ischemic stroke, which occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked, typically by a clot. Ischemic strokes account for 87% of overall stroke numbers.

If a blood vessel bursts, we call this a hemorrhagic stroke. And you can also develop what we call mini strokes, or transient ischemic attacks (TSAs), which are caused by temporary clots.

Reading the signs of stroke

Now let’s dive into our acronym, which was developed to help people identify possible signs of stroke. The BE FAST acronym also provides a reminder to act quickly.

So, the BE FAST acronym includes:

B — Look for a loss of balance that comes on suddenly.

E — You may have sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes.

F — Strokes often cause one half of the face to droop, giving an overall uneven appearance.

A — This letter stands for arm, but it also includes legs. More specifically, when you have a stroke, you might find that one arm just hangs down and/or you suddenly lose the use of one leg.

S — People having a stroke often struggle with speech. They can slur or become confused.

T — This letter stands for terrible or thunderclap headaches. These headaches can be severe and hard to ignore.

Bear in mind, strokes can affect different areas of your brain, which can lead to different symptoms, but the BE FAST side effects are the most common. These signs can also vary in severity.

We don’t want you to wait around for all of these side effects to show up. Take action as soon as you can check one or two of the BE FAST boxes.

By action, we want you to call 911 immediately. During and immediately after a stroke, an emergency room or hospital setting is the best place for your primary care. 

Dr. Gill and our team are here to provide critical aftercare for people who’ve had a stroke. 

The months after a stroke are key times when neuroplasticity is at its peak. By neuroplasticity, we’re referring to the period when your brain is healing and better able to form and organize new synapses and connections to regain function.

If you have more questions about stroke or stroke aftercare, we’re happy to provide you with any information you need. To get started, please call our Houston, Texas, office at 832-912-7777 or use our online form to request an appointment.