
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 29, 1993                   TAG: 9304290098
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

EMERGENCY REACTION TO STROKES STRESSED

Doctors and the general public are too often failing to regard stroke symptoms as an emergency, hampering the care of stroke victims, a panel of experts said Wednesday.

"The symptoms of stroke should have the same alarming significance in identifying a `brain attack' that acute chest pain has in identifying a `heart attack,' " they wrote in new guidelines on stroke treatment.

Early treatment to limit brain damage is critical, the guidelines say. The document urges evaluation and treatment within six hours of the appearance of symptoms, the earlier the better.

Warning signs include abrupt weakness on one side of the body in one or both limbs, a sudden decline in degree of consciousness, a sudden and severe headache, difficulty speaking or understanding speech, sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes, double vision, weakness in all four extremities and sometimes loss of feeling in one half of the body.

- Associated Press

by CNB