Headache vs. Stroke: Recognizing Critical Warning Signs

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, strokes cause over one hundred forty thousand deaths each year in the United States alone. This serious condition can also leave a person with severe, life-long disabilities. Strokes are caused by the blockage of arteries that supply oxygen to the brain or a hemorrhage of an artery within the brain. One of the major symptoms of a stroke is a headache. Fortunately there are ways to determine if a headache is a normal, harmless headache or if it is a symptom of a stroke. Knowing can mean the difference between life and death, or disability.

Instructions

• 1

  Take note of how the headache began, as well as its intensity. Strokes are usually accompanied by a sudden, severe headache rather than a dull one that grows slowly.

• 2

  Try to speak. If slurred or confusing speech accompany the headache, you may be having a stroke.

• 3

  Determine whether confusion or disorientation is present with the headache. If you or another person can not answer simple questions (name, date, birthday), a stroke may be in progress.

• 4

  Check for a loss of coordination. This may manifest itself through stumbling or falling. Headaches that coincide with weakness and numbness (especially in only one side of the body) may indicate a stroke.

• 5

  Test vision. If you have blurred, blackened or double vision along with a severe headache, you may be having a stroke.