Don't take a wait-and-see attitude toward sudden numbness or dizziness.

It could cost you life or limb. Those two symptoms are among the warning signs of stroke, especially when they occur on just one side of the body. The others: sudden weakness, difficulty speaking or hearing, confusion, loss of balance, and splitting head pain. You may need clot-busting drugs, and fast. Don't wait and see. Call 911 immediately.Taking a tough-guy (or tough-gal) attitude toward the symptoms of stroke, or shrugging off comments from people who suspect something's wrong, is extremely common -- and scarier than playing Russian roulette. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States (heart attacks and cancer hold the one and two spots). Once symptoms start, there's only a 3-hour window for taking life-saving, clot-busting drugs. Miss the opportunity and the risks of death or permanent brain/body disability soar.

Although clot-busting medications help only one of the two kinds of stroke, the kind they help -- ischemic stroke -- is far and away the most common. It occurs when clots lodge in blood vessels in the brain. The less-common type, hemorrhagic stroke, happens when blood vessels burst in the brain.

Women in particular should take note. Females are three times more likely to delay going to the hospital than men are. Don't be one of them.

Source: RealAge.com