Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about strokes and the importance of knowing the symptoms.
Attention Getter: On the night of August 14th, 2011, my grandfather awoke my grandmother. He complained of headache, dizziness, weakness and had slurred speech. At the time, she did not realize my grandfather was having a stroke, even though she was a retired outpatient nurse. My grandfather did not reach the emergency room until hours later. According to the American Stroke Association every 40 seconds someone in the US has a stroke.
Introduction
Preview of Main Points: Identifying strokes involves understanding the 2 common types of strokes and understanding why time is important and identifying the actual symptoms.
Tie to Audience: …show more content…
To understand why time is so important, you must understand the 2 most common types of strokes.
a. The most common of the 2 is ischemic stroke.
i. First, atherosclerosis or deposits of fat on blood vessel walls must be present. ii. Either a cerebral thrombosis or cerebral embolism will block the vessel completely.
b. The second stroke is hemorrhagic.
i. This kind of stroke happens when a blood vessel ruptures near the brain. ii. The blood then pulls and puts pressure on the brain.
(Transition: Now, that you understand a little about what causes a stoke you can understand why time is so important.)
II. Timing for strokes is important not only because of the treatment must be given within in a certain time frame, but because the brain is deprived of oxygen.
a. During an ischemic stroke, the blood clot cuts off blood flow to parts of the brain.
i. This denies the brain of oxygen, the longer it does not receive oxygen the more damage occurs.
b. The medication for ischemic strokes is most beneficial in the first hour or “golden hour” that symptoms present themselves.
c. Although, it can be given up to 3-4 hours after the initial symptoms occur.
d. For hemorrhagic strokes, the longer the pressure is on the brain, the more damage