If you think someone may be having a stroke act FAST: Ask three simple questions, then call 9-1-1. Remember Face Arms Speech Time

Women often experience stroke symptoms different from men. Do you know what they are? Recognizing stroke symptoms and calling for help could save your life.

When I feel the sniffles coming on, I always reach for some extra vitamin C. And as an autoimmune patient with Antiphospholipid Syndrome (APS) I know to get plenty of rest. But until a few years ago, I’d never thought about Vitamin D.

Of course I’m not having a stroke, I wanted to tell him. Strokes are for the elderly, for smokers, for overweight couch potatoes.  I’m forty-eight years old, fit and perfectly healthy. I was so sure stroke couldn’t happen to me that I didn’t believe the paramedics; I doubted the neurologist in the ER.

This month, learn the facts about stroke: it is common, brutal, and affects all age groups. It can happen to you or someone you love; it can be prevented.

Sticking to a drug regimen can be confusing for anyone: Doubly so for anyone with impaired memory or attention. Most stroke patients fall into that category. I know I do.

I left the hospital after my stroke still dazed, groping through each day behind a veil of confusion.

Healthy hard bodies whose ills amount to the occasional cold or case of shin splints from overdoing the marathon circuit don’t need advice on managing medications. For rest of us these common sense tips on drug safety can apply to everyone, but are but are crucial for stroke and autoimmune patients, anyone with impaired memory, or chronic illnesses that involve multiple meds.