How to Know if You are Having a Stroke

One way to remember the signs of a stroke is to remember the mnemonic FAST which stands for Face, Arms, Speech, and Time.

Face

Having a facial droop is a sign of a stroke. This means you may be unable to raise one of your eyebrows or smile on one side of your face.

Arms

A stroke may cause weakness in one of your arms or cause you to be unable to move one of your arms.

Speech

People who are having a stroke may have slurred speech due to weakness in their face and tongue. Having a stroke may affect the part of the brain responsible for language. When this happens, people may be unable to speak at all or their speech may be unintelligible. Sometimes when someone has a stroke, they can understand you but are unable to get out the words to communicate.

Time

If you or someone you know is having any of these symptoms it is time to call 911. Do not