The Strokes... not the band though...

Dear Congressman,

As you are well aware, May is national stroke prevention month. As a chain smoker, I thought it would be a good idea to relay to you that strokes are the third leading cause of death in the US and the leading cause of adult disability.

Here is a list I found of symptoms that would indicate you are potentially having a stroke.

Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg especially on one side of the body
Confusion or trouble understanding
Trouble seeing in both eyes
Trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Severe headache with no known cause

Personally,. I think the signs that they give for recognizing stroke are a little vague. Lets face facts here... if you throw out the first symptom from the list, you could be accurately describing 2/3rds of the US population over the age of 50 at any one point in time during the day. In fact, based on some of the Senate hearing panels I have observed recently, this would also accurately describe many senior members of that esteemed body as well.

All kidding aside, it is probably more important that individuals who are present with someone potentially in the throes of a stroke be aware of three steps to check and see if that individual might require medical attention. These are courtesy of Jane Brice, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Medicine. In a matter of home town pride, the test is referred to as CPSS, or the Cincinnati Pre-Hospital Stroke Scale. It is a three part test as follows:

"Talk, wave, smile."

1. Tell the patient, "Show me your teeth." The "smile test" is used to check for one-sided facial weakness -- a classic sign of stroke.

2.Ask the patient to close their eyes and raise their arms. Stroke patients usually cannot raise both arms to the same height, a sign of arm weakness.

3. Ask the patient to repeat a simple sentence to check for slurring of speech, which is another classic sign of stroke. "The sky is blue in Cincinnati," and "Don't cry over spilled milk." are good examples to use.

That's it. If they fail that test, get them to the emergency room and save them from potential long term disability.