May is Stroke Awareness Month and Abilene Regional Medical Center is urging people to educate themselves about strokes.
Strokes are caused when the blood flow to the brain is blocked, which always has the potential to be deadly. Symptoms include facial drooping, numbness or weakness in the arm, slurred speech or difficulty speaking or understanding.
Doctors say time is crucial when it comes to treating a stroke and it is something that cannot be ignored.
"I don't like to call strokes 'strokes,' I like to call strokes 'brain attacks,'" says neurologist Sharisse Stephenson. "Just like no one would stay at home with a heart attack, I don't want anyone staying at home if they are having a brain attack."
If left untreated strokes can cause permanent brain damage and can often times be deadly.
Strokes are caused when the blood flow to the brain is blocked, which always has the potential to be deadly. Symptoms include facial drooping, numbness or weakness in the arm, slurred speech or difficulty speaking or understanding.
Doctors say time is crucial when it comes to treating a stroke and it is something that cannot be ignored.
"I don't like to call strokes 'strokes,' I like to call strokes 'brain attacks,'" says neurologist Sharisse Stephenson. "Just like no one would stay at home with a heart attack, I don't want anyone staying at home if they are having a brain attack."
If left untreated strokes can cause permanent brain damage and can often times be deadly.
