What to know
- Strokes can happen to anyone—even children and young adults—not just the elderly, and time is the most important factor in recovery.
- The B.E.F.A.S.T. method adds “Balance” and “Eyes” to the standard stroke warning signs, making it easier to identify strokes early: watch for sudden trouble with balance, vision, facial drooping, limb weakness, or slurred speech.
- Medications to treat stroke work best within four and a half hours of symptoms; advanced surgery may be available up to 24 hours—so call 911 immediately if you suspect a stroke.
- Diet plays a significant role: new research links ultra-processed foods to silent strokes and vascular injury, so experts recommend minimizing processed foods and following a Mediterranean-style diet for brain health.
Could you recognize a stroke? In honour of World Stroke Day, an expert is shining a light on the updated B.E.F.A.S.T. method for identifying the acute health condition, and how new research shows your diet can affect your risk of stroke.
Thursday, Oct. 29 marks World Stroke Day, a day focused on education around strokes such as who can get them, what the signs are, and what to do when someone is having a stroke.
According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, nearly 40 per cent of Canadians surveyed couldn’t identify a single FAST warning sign, despite there being more than 878,000 Canadian adults who have experienced a stroke.
How to recognize a stroke? An expert reveals the B.E.F.A.S.T. method
Dr. Barbara Voetsch, acute stroke director at Mass General Brigham Hospital, inpatient director, and co-director of the comprehensive stroke centre, explains that the University of Cincinnati recently released the B.E.F.A.S.T. method, adding two new letters to the more commonly known F.A.S.T. method.
“It added two symptoms or sets of symptoms that were often not recognized,” she explained.
- Balance: Experiencing sudden unsteadiness.
- Eye: Loss of vision in one or both eyes.
- Face: Facial drooping on one or both sides.
- Arm: Arm or leg; an acronym that refers to motor symptoms causing unilateral paralysis, meaning your arm or leg goes limp or weakens to the point that you cannot hold a fork or raise your arm.
- Speech: Any trouble speaking, where the brain cannot process the words you want to say, or your speech sounds incoherent.
- Time: Call 911 quickly.
Voetsch emphasized that every minute matters.
‘The closer to the onset of symptoms, the better the response’: Why time matters in treating a stroke — and how it works
“Brain cells die very quickly. We have a lot of opportunity to treat strokes in the first 24 hours, but the closer to the onset of symptoms, the better the response,” she told Now Toronto.
Two ways to treat the stroke include medication and surgery.
Voestch says medication typically works only within four and a half hours of symptom onset. Otherwise, the surgery requires a thrombectomy within the window of 24 hours.
No matter the choice, Voestch emphasized, “Time is brain.”
Who do strokes affect?
Strokes can affect anyone, Voestch explained.
“Stroke is not a disease only of the elderly. Strokes can really strike at any age. We see children with strokes; we see young adults with strokes,” she said.
Voestch explained older patients may have more strokes caused by high blood pressure, diabetes or cholesterol, but the younger generation is seeing a rise in vascular risks caused by cardiac conditions or blood conditions.
Could your diet increasingly put you at risk of a stroke?
A new study published in JAMA Network Open found an association between higher ultra-processed food consumption and vascular brain injury in middle-aged Canadian adults.
Voestch explained that MRIs show that the more people eat ultra-processed foods, the higher the chance they experience a silent or subclinical stroke.
Think you’re invincible because you eat salads every day? Voestch says it might not help.
Ultra-processed foods aren’t limited to junk food; they include granolas, pasta sauce, and salad dressings with loads of preservatives and chemicals. So, she recommends making things from scratch when possible and following the Mediterranean diet, which includes healthy fats and lots of fruits and vegetables.
“World Stroke Day is really meant to highlight the importance of stroke recognition… Know the stroke signs and symptoms, and then call 911 quickly. The earlier people get in, the more we can do. If you’re not sure whether it’s a stroke symptom, come in anyway,” Voestch said.
