Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Indicators of a Stroke- FOURTH FACTOR

Blood Clots/Stroke - They Now Have a Fourth Indicator, the Tongue
I will continue to forward this every time it comes around!

STROKE:Remember the 1st Three Letters....S.T.R.


My nurse friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word.

I agree.

If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.

Seriously..

Please read:

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) .she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes.

They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening.

Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00 pm Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps! Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

It only takes a minute to read this...

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.

T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)(i.e. It is sunny out today.)

R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

New Sign of a Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

Monday, February 9, 2009

How to Stop a Cold in Its Tracks

Mothers (and Grandmothers) everywhere rejoice - you've been proven right yet again. It turns out that enjoying a warm drink to stop a cold (or the flu) in it's tracks has finally been validated by scientific proof.

Researchers at Cardiff University's Common Cold Centre, the world's only facility focused on researching and testing new treatments for cold and flu, have just published the results of the first-of-its-kind study on warm drinks and colds in the latest issue of the journal Rhinology.
"It is surprising that this is the first scientific research on the benefit of a hot drink for treating cold and flu symptoms," confirms centre director Professor Ron Eccles.

Much of what we know about the common cold, and the more serious and lasting flu come from twenty years of work by the team at the Common Cold Centre.

Scientists now recognizes that colds are brought on by as many as 200 different viruses, and the means they use to invade our bodies.

But while we understand more, we're still no closer to a cure - finding or developing one medication to vanquish all those different viruses is next to impossible.

Although more common in the colder months, summer colds; colds while on vacation or after traveling by air have often become complaints for many of us.

Without a cure in sight, ways to treat cold symptoms are the focus of much attention.

The time honored remedy of a hot drink studied in this latest work was an apple and blackcurrant combination served at both room temperature and heated to 70ÂșC, as Mom always suggested. The subjects were 30 volunteers with colds - 21 women, 9 men.

The heated low calorie, low sugar (but still sweet) fruit drink offered immediate and sustained relief from symptoms of runny nose, coughing, sneezing, sore throat, chills and fatigue.

Coughing, sore throat, chills and fatigue responded at once to the soothing warmed drink, while it took about 15 minutes for volunteers to report relief of runny nose and sneezing.

The same drink at room temperature provided relief of fewer symptoms namely runny nose, coughing and sneezing.

The hot fruity drink produced no objective measurements in terms of nasal airflow, but it did cause a big improvement in subjective measurements of this airflow. This opens the door to concerns about the placebo effect - the psychological effect of just being treated bringing an improvement in symptoms without any medication haven been given.

In the case of the Common Cold Centre study, it could be the taste, smell and temperature of the drink that are responsible for the improvement in cold symptoms.

And though common cold medications take up a good amount of space on store shelves, alternative treatments like zinc and Echinacea are popular choices for stopping a cold from "emerging", or once one has started, shortening the duration of the symptoms.

Menthol and garlic have also been shown to be helpful, as has ascorbate (from vitamin C) and the garlic component Allicin (found only in garlic powder or fresh garlic).

So now you have the scientific evidence to back up the urge for that warm, soothing drink to help ease your cold or flu symptoms.

To avoid the cold virus in the first place, you might consider practicing good hand washing (especially before eating), eating a healthy, balanced diet and getting the rest you need, especially if you feel cold symptoms coming on.

Avoiding large crowds and managing stress are also very beneficial to stop a cold developing and staying healthy through both summer or winter.

Next just head on over to the Daily Health Bulletin for more health tips including more on how to stop a cold and get 5 free revealing health reports.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kirsten_Whittaker