Reduce your chance of stroke by eating well, exercising, living smoke-free and taking care of your diabetes.

Knowing signs of stroke is important in getting immediate help and reducing the impact of a stroke.

Bruce Krentz with the Northern Health Region provides the signs to watch for.

“The little thing that we use to help us remember is FAST. F is for Face, is the person’s face drooping especially on one side? Arms, can you raise both of them? Speech, is your speech slurred or jumbled? T is for time, as fast as you can call 911 and get some people some help.”

Krentz says that we usually equate stroke with the aging population, but that anyone of any age can experience one.

In fact, the risk of stroke in children is greatest in the weeks after their birth.

Every day in Canada one baby has a stroke and currently there are more than 10-thousand children between the ages of newborn and 18 living with the effect of stroke.

Learn more about Stroke Month at Heart and Stroke.ca.