Good news, bad news

Interesting article appeared on a Web site called MedPage Today (more on that later) recently about poor advice from hospital "healthline" operators concerning stroke symptoms.

The article, titled "Stroke Patients May Get Faulty Advice from Hospital Healthlines," details how investigators called various hospitals, described stroke symptoms, and too often received bad advice such as:

• Call your own doctor
• Wait to see if your symptoms improve
• Drive the patient for medical care

The correct answer, of course, is to call 911 for an ambulance. Don't wait.

Here's a good description of stroke symptoms, plus other great advice, from the American Stroke Association:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

The good news is the source of the article cited, which seems to be a good resource for other medical information. MedPage Today is described as a "medical news service" for physicians, but this article is a pretty easy read even for a non-doctor. It works with the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for some of its content, including the article linked. Click here for its entire Stroke section.