Patient Claim Line outlines key signs of stroke and how to reduce risks

Every five minutes, someone in the UK will experience a stroke, with 1.3 million people in the country having survived a stroke. The condition can be both life-threatening and life-altering, so knowing what to look out for and how to act in the event of a stroke is essential. 

In light of World Stroke Day, which takes place on the 29th October, leading medical negligence solicitors, Patient Claim Line, have outlined crucial signs to look out for, highlighted NHS guidance if you suspect you or a loved one is having a stroke, and advised what you can do if your stroke symptoms were not acted upon quickly enough.

What are the common symptoms of a stroke?

“With a stroke, every second counts, so knowing the symptoms to look out for is vital. To help detect the signs of a stroke as quickly as possible, official advice from the NHS and the Stroke Association is to follow the FAST acronym.” 

FAST stands for:

• FACE: A stroke can cause facial weakness or numbness, meaning one or both sides of the face start to droop. This can happen around the mouth or the eyes. Can the person smile or have they lost the ability to move their face as normal?
• ARMS: Weakness in the arms is another sign of a stroke. Can the person raise their arms, or are they complaining of a loss of sensation?
• SPEECH: A person’s speech can become slurred or completely incoherent. In some cases, they may not be able to talk at all.
• TIME: The ‘T’ stands for ‘Time,’ because if you spot any of these signs it is time to call the emergency services without delay.

“Whilst these are the most common signs of a stroke, there are others that the Stroke Association encourages Brits to be alert to. As well as weakness in the arms, any weakness or paralysis down one side of the body, including the legs and feet, is a cause for concern. Any trouble speaking, for example, words in the wrong order or forgetting words can be an indication of a stroke, as can a sudden and severe headache. A loss of vision, or even total loss of sight can occur with a stroke and a sudden onset of memory loss, any dizziness or an unexplained fall are all signs to look out for.”

What should a doctor or medical professional do upon recognizing signs of a stroke?

“A doctor or medical professional has a duty to ensure appropriate care for their patient. This usually involves carrying out a brain scan within an hour of a patient arriving at hospital. This can be a CT scan or an MRI scan.” 

“There are other procedures we would expect doctors to carry out when they suspect a stroke. These range from taking blood tests, measuring blood pressure and checking the patient’s pulse, to swallow tests and echocardiograms. A patient’s ability to swallow is often affected by a stroke, so doctors may ask patients to swallow a small amount of water to see if there is any difficulty swallowing.”

“NHS guidance states that doctors should carry out an echocardiogram in order to look for blood clots. A stroke is usually caused by a blood clot blocking signals to the brain, and so if an echocardiogram flags that blood clots are present, this can help to diagnose a stroke. Similarly, an ultrasound scan may be used to find any blockages in the arteries in the neck that lead to the brain.” 

What increases my risk of having a stroke?

“A stroke can happen to anyone but, in our experience, there are certain presenting patterns that might indicate you are more at risk. The average age for a stroke to occur is 68 for men and 73 for women, so the older generation are typically more at risk. This is because our arteries become narrower as we age, but regular check ups and taking care of your heart can all help ward off a stroke.”

“Other risk factors are associated with overall health. For many of our clients, we have observed that high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol have contributed to a stroke. The NHS advise that eating a healthy diet, not smoking and keeping active all help to reduce the risk, and the same for reducing alcohol and maintaining a healthy weight.”

“Some risk factors cannot be avoided, for example, your family history can indicate you are more likely to have a stroke and so too can your ethnicity. Research shows that people from Black or South Asian families have a higher likelihood of having a stroke. Similarly, sickle cell disease poses an increased risk and is more likely to be found in those from African, Caribbean, Asian and Mediterranean backgrounds.”

“Pregnancy increases the risk of stroke because blood clots are more likely to form, and taking the contraceptive pill can also cause blood clots. Official advice states that women should be made aware of these risks when prescribed the contraceptive pill and have their family history recorded.”

What are my legal rights if I’ve received a substandard level of care following a stroke?

“If you have suffered a stroke that could have been avoided, had you had been afforded the correct treatment; or if the level of care following your stroke may have contributed to greater suffering, then you may be able to pursue a claim for compensation. Legally, you have three years from the date you experienced, or learned of, the medical negligence. If a stroke left you in intensive care, or affected your cognition, you may not have learnt about the negligence until later.”

“Medical negligence can occur at any time during your stroke diagnosis. You may not have had tests early enough, been given the correct treatment, or even been warned about certain risk factors. It will need to be proven that your condition was caused, or was made worse, because of medical negligence and not because of any unrelated factors. This is legally referred to as ‘direct cause’ and a medical negligence lawyer can help access medical records to prove this.”