F-A-S-T: This Stroke Acronym Can Save Your Life
In this video, neurologist Carolyn Brockington, MD, explains how to recognize the symptoms of stroke using the acronym F-A-S-T.
Everything about a stroke demands speed. The symptoms of stroke are abrupt, the diagnosis must be prompt, and the treatment must be immediate. For every minute a stroke is untreated, a person can lose around 1.9 million neurons, according to the National Stroke Association.
“We know ‘time is brain,’” says Carolyn Brockington, MD, a neurologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. “That means that the longer the brain isn’t getting enough blood flow, the more likely there’s going to be permanent injury.” The FAST acronym stands for face, arms, speech, and time.
- Carolyn Brockington, MDDr. Brockington is a neurologist and director of the Stroke Center at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West Hospital in New York City.
References
American Stroke Association. (2021). Learn More Stroke Warning Signs and Symptoms.
Lees, KR, et al. (2010). Time to treatment with intravenous alteplase and outcome in stroke: an updated pooled analysis of ECASS, ATLANTIS, NINDS, and EPITHET trials. The Lancet.