Beauticians Cut, Curl, Offer Stroke-Prevention Info

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Two women in Cincinnati had better leave big tips the next time they get their hair done.

They survived strokes thanks to fast action by their beauticians, who were taking part in a novel program to raise stroke awareness as they clipped, straightened and braided their customers' hair.

One stylist noticed that a woman's speech was slurred, and called for help. Another woman called her hairdresser weeks after having been in the shop, describing symptoms she was having.

"The beautician recognized it as signs of a stroke, called 911, walked to the woman's apartment and waited with her until an ambulance arrived," said Dr. Dawn Kleindorfer, a University of Cincinnati neurologist who led the project and reported results at a recent American Stroke Association conference in San Francisco, California.

Beauticians and barbers increasingly are being used the way churches are to spread the word about stroke, cancer and other diseases. What they can do may be as important as any doctor, drug or diagnostic test.

That is because the key factor to surviving a stroke and limiting its damage is time. The main treatment -- a clot-busting medicine called tPA -- must be given within three hours of the start of symptoms to do any good. But fewer than 5 percent of stroke sufferers wind up getting it.

"By far the biggest reason is people delay going into the hospital because they don't know the signs or realize it's an emergency," Kleindorfer said.

She signed up dozens of stylists in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Atlanta, Georgia, in 2005 for a pilot project to teach customers the warning signs....CNN.com