Quality Living Styles

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Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in adults. About 600,000 new strokes are reported in the U.S. each year. The good news is that treatments are available that can greatly reduce the damage caused by a stroke.

However, you need to recognize the symptoms of a stroke and get to a hospital quickly. Getting treatment within 60 minutes can prevent disability.

The effect a stroke can be devastating for the patient as well as family members. Emails have been circulating recently on how to recognize that someone may be having a stroke, & encouraging passing on this information. Therefore I have included these tips for the month of September.

The symptoms of a stroke may be difficult to identify, delaying the course of treatment. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. With these tips, hopefully, a bystander may recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

• Remember the first 3 letters of the word, STROKE,   S,   T,   R
• S     Ask the individual to SMILE
• T    Ask the person to TALK & SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE, coherently, like, “It is sunny out today.”
• R   Ask the person to RAISE BOTH ARMS

If the person has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call an emergency number immediately, 911 in the US and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

You may also ask the person to “stick” out the tongue. If the tongue is crooked, if it goes to one side or the other, that is also an indication of a stroke.

Lets hope that we can all remember these tips, be aware and help ourselves or others.

If you regularly use dryer sheets you may find the following information useful. Althought your lint filter may look clean, it could cause damage to your dryer. Run hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material. So the hot water will just sit on top of the mesh. No water will go through it. The dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh-that could burn out the heating unit.

You cannot see the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free. They feel waxy when you take them out of the box. In time this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it!

The best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush at least every six months. That will increase the life of the dryer at least twice as long!

Flexible vacuum
To get something out from small or awkward spaces like under the fridge add an empty paper towel roll or empty gift wrap roll to your vacuum. It can be bent or flattened to get in narrow openings.

Reducing Static Cling
Pin a small safety pin to the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and no more static.

Measuring Cups
Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry the cup. Next, add your ingredient (peanut butter, honey, etc.) and watch how easily it comes right out.