[Medical Q&A] How to quickly identify stroke and provide timely rescue?

Author: He Yanbo, deputy chief physician of Beijing Huimin Hospital

Reviewer: Zhang Yan, Chief Physician, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University

It is crucial to quickly identify stroke symptoms and get the patient to the hospital for treatment in a timely manner.

In July 2021, the Chinese Stroke Society officially released the "BE FAST formula" for identifying early symptoms of stroke. The first five letters each represent an early symptom, and the last letter is a reminder that once stroke symptoms are discovered, you must call emergency services immediately and seek medical attention immediately.

"B" - Balance refers to balance, loss of balance or coordination, and sudden difficulty walking.

"E"--Eyes refers to eyes, sudden changes in vision, difficulty seeing.

"F"--Face refers to the face, which is asymmetrical and has crooked corners of the mouth.

"A" - Arms - Sudden weakness or numbness in the arms, usually on one side of the body.

"S"--Speech refers to language, inability to speak, slurred speech, and inability to understand other people's language.

"T" refers to time. If you experience the above symptoms, call 120 or 999 immediately and go to the nearest hospital with treatment capabilities.

The treatment effect of stroke is highly time-dependent, especially for ischemic stroke, which accounts for about 70% of stroke. When it occurs, brain cells die at a rate of 1.9 million per minute, especially when the symptoms appear for more than 4.5 hours, brain cells will die irreversibly. Therefore, intravenous thrombolysis should be performed as much as possible within 4.5 hours of onset, and acute intravascular treatment should be performed in the nearest hospital with conditions within 6 to 8 hours of onset, so as to open the blocked cerebral blood vessels as soon as possible and save the brain tissue and brain cells that have not yet undergone necrosis, thereby minimizing the disability rate and mortality rate of cerebral infarction.