BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) \u2014 Adventist Health is hosting a free community lunch-and-learn event on Tuesday, May 26, focused on stroke awareness, recognition, and prevention.<\/p>\n
Joyce Navarro, a stroke coordinator with Adventist Health, said the event will feature a community neurologist speaking about stroke basics, prevention, symptom recognition, and treatment options \u2014 including what happens when a patient arrives at the emergency room.<\/p>\n
“It is a great event because it’s hardly ever offered,” Navarro said. “We did this last year, and it was pretty, pretty successful, and we wanted to redo it as we had a lot of good feedback about a lot of the patients about things that they didn’t know, didn’t learn, or who it affects the most.”<\/p>\n
Navarro said one of the most overlooked stroke symptoms involves balance and vision \u2014 signs many people dismiss or attribute to other conditions like low blood sugar or high blood pressure.<\/p>\n
“A lot of them have underlying other conditions like blood pressure, blood sugar control issues, so they may think it’s my blood sugar, it’s low, my blood pressure is too high, and they may dismiss the symptoms thinking it may go away in a few minutes,” Navarro said.<\/p>\n
She said most patients don’t arrive at the hospital until 2 to 4 hours after symptoms begin \u2014 a dangerous delay, given how quickly brain damage occurs.<\/p>\n
“Every minute that passes, about 1.9 million neurons get lost,” Navarro said. “So those are brain cells that will never be regained.”<\/p>\n
Navarro encouraged anyone experiencing stroke-like symptoms to call 911 immediately rather than waiting.<\/p>\n
“If they call the EMS system, they know where to take them, they alert us, and we prepare, and we can make quicker decisions when the patients arrive at the hospital,” Navarro said.<\/p>\n
To help the public recognize stroke symptoms, Navarro highlighted the “BE-FAST” mnemonic:<\/p>\n
B\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Balance:\u00a0unsteady\u00a0gait\u00a0or\u00a0dizzinessE\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Eyes:\u00a0blurred\u00a0vision,\u00a0double\u00a0vision,\u00a0or\u00a0loss\u00a0of\u00a0vision\u00a0in\u00a0one\u00a0or\u00a0both\u00a0eyesF\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Face:\u00a0facial\u00a0droop,\u00a0asymmetry,\u00a0weakness,\u00a0or\u00a0numbnessA\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Arm:\u00a0weakness,\u00a0drift,\u00a0numbness,\u00a0or\u00a0tingling\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0arm\u00a0or\u00a0legS\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Speech:\u00a0slurred\u00a0speech,\u00a0inability\u00a0to\u00a0speak,\u00a0or\u00a0inability\u00a0to\u00a0comprehend\u00a0othersT\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Time:\u00a0it\u00a0is\u00a0a\u00a0critical\u00a0emergency\u00a0\u2014\u00a0call\u00a0911<\/p>\n
Navarro also stressed that a stroke can happen at any age.<\/p>\n
“It indeed increases with age; however, it can happen at any age, which is really important that we do recognize the symptoms in anyone and every single person,” Navarro said.<\/p>\n
The free lunch-and-learn event is open to the community. Attendees can register by visiting the Adventist Health website, where a QR code is available to sign up.<\/p>\n
This\u00a0story\u00a0was\u00a0reported\u00a0on-air\u00a0by\u00a0a\u00a0journalist\u00a0and\u00a0has\u00a0been\u00a0converted\u00a0to\u00a0this\u00a0platform\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0assistance\u00a0of\u00a0AI.\u00a0Our\u00a0editorial\u00a0team\u00a0verifies\u00a0all\u00a0reporting\u00a0on\u00a0all\u00a0platforms\u00a0for\u00a0fairness\u00a0and\u00a0accuracy.<\/p>\n
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