Stroke is the leading cause of death in the United States - behind heart disease and cancer - killing over 160,000 Americans every year. Two thirds of the six million afflicted are disabled, which is the leading long-term disability in this country. Twice as many women are killed from a stroke than breast cancer, but think they are at greater risk from cancer.
The good news is that 80% of the strokes are preventable.
Risk factors for stroke include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, family history of stroke, obesity, previous strokes and ignorance of these risk factors.
Some warning signs:
WALK (is your balance off)
TALK (is your speech slurred or face droopy)
REACH (is your vision all or partly lost)
FEEL (is your headache severe)
TONGUE (ask the individual to stick out their tongue to see if it's crooked - going to one side or another)
STR:
S: Ask the individual to SMILE
T: Ask the person to TALK and say a simple sentence
R: Ask the person to RAISE both arms.
If you recognize any of these signs - even if they go away - call 911. If given the right treatment within the right amount of time, a stroke can be reversed. FAST - a great acronym to remember - stands for FACE, ARMS, SPEECH and TIME.
For more (surprising) information on stroke, go to the Stroke Awareness Foundation.
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