Stroke Awareness

Sas Freeman

January 13, 2015

Last week I received a circular on social media suggesting that Stroke has a new indicator,  in addition to – S *Ask the individual to SMILE. T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently) (i.e. Chicken Soup) R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS (STR- the first 3 letters of stroke), the tongue is the fourth & a new indicator of stroke and you should:

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

It is wonderful that people want to create more awareness of how to be able to recognise the signs and help, but sadly it only illustrates what we already know. It has been some years now since The Stroke Association first launched their FAST campaign, followed since by many other campaigns to raise awareness, this year they will be promoting ‘FAST start’. We need to raise more funds to be able to have the FAST campaign and others like it on television and radio more often and at prime viewing time.

But it’s not just recognising the symptoms of stroke when its happening but raising awareness of what causes strokes so they can be prevented where possible. More and more young people are having strokes, women during pregnancy, woman with diabetes are twice as more likely to suffer a stroke than men who have diabetes. People with Atrial Fibrillation are at risk of stroke yet if they are aware of this condition and are seen by their GP, put on the correct medication, this risk can be removed. These are just a few examples that with greater awareness, strokes could be reduced and/or prevented.

If there was an opportunity, I would be more than happy to participate in a radio ‘question & answer’ slot in order to raise more awareness and for fellow survivors and their families to ask questions.

More woman die from stroke than die from breast cancer yet most of us believe the opposite is the case, this could be in part due to the levels of funding available for awareness and medical research into such conditions. For every stroke patient living in the UK £48 is spent on medical research compared with a staggering £241 for every cancer patient and £73 for every patient suffering from a heart condition.

All charities should receive the amounts they need to carryout the important work of prevention and cure, but those receiving less should be able to catch up and be in line too. If you think our brains really control our whole bodies, all organs inside, why is it such charities have so little funding?

Can we come up with a way to change this?

What if, with whatever social media you use, we forward the FAST literature to ten people we know and having done that donate any small amount, direct to the stroke Association or my ‘JustGiving’ page on my website https://www.justgiving.com/Sas-Freeman-Book/ which will go straight to stroke Awareness.

I am gifting £2 from the sale of each book I sell to this cause. so can you give a little today and help me reach my total sum. In seconds you will have done such a good turn which could truly help someone, which in turn helps that persons family too.

Please give it thought, any small amount, and a couple of minutes. Please help ME to help YOU or someone you know.

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Stroke Awareness

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Sas Freeman