Recognizing the signs of a stroke, the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.

FAST stands for Facial weakness, Arm or leg weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to act.

MACON, Georgia(41NBC/WMGT) — Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States.

At Atrium Health Navicent, doctors are seeing an average of two to three stroke patients a day.

That’s why they want you to act “FAST” this National Stroke Month and know how to recognize the symptoms.

Dr. Matthew Smith, the Director of Neurology and Stroke with Atrium Health Navicent, says they use the acronym FAST to recognize the signs. FAST stands for Facial weakness, Arm or leg weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to act.

Doctors say it’s important to seek medical help as quickly as possible.

Dr. Smith says strokes do have modifiable risk factors.

“Those include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, smoking,” he said. “Those are all things you kind of can control, so stop smoking, make sure they take their blood pressure medication.”

Doctors say if you notice one of the symptoms, you should not drive yourself to the Emergency Room. Instead, call 911 immediately.