Stroke Awareness Does Matter
It Can Lead To Preventive Measures & Timely Treatment
A blood pressure check can indicate if you have a high probability of stroke.
Don't Delay
Most people have heard the word stroke and know it's a medical problem. Yet, many people cannot name one symptom associated with strokes and/or believe that strokes are untreatable.
This lack of knowledge causes victims to react slowly. The resulting delay in treatment increases the odds of death or disability. Strokes are not a "wait and see what happens next" problem. Treat a stroke as a MEDICAL EMERGENCY!
Warning Signs
One or more of the following signals may warn of a stroke. (They may come and go.) Heed the warnings and seek help immediately.
- Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm, leg. This commonly occurs on one side of the body.
- Loss of vision, particularly in one eye.
- Sudden confusion, difficulty speaking or understanding speech.
- Severe, sudden headaches with an unknown cause.
- Difficulty walking, unexplained dizziness, unsteadiness, loss of coordination and sudden falls.
There are certain factors that increase the risk of a stroke. The more risk factors you experience, the greater your chance of suffering from a stroke. Some of the factors are uncontrollable, such as age, race, gender, family history, a previous stroke (or TIA) and a history of diabetes. There are other risk factors that you have some control over and can take action to decrease or eliminate. They include:
- Heart Disease Coronary heart disease can clog blood vessels with plaque. Atrial fibrillation can create blood clots that travel through the circulatory system and block arteries in the brain..
- High Blood Pressure Increases the risk of stroke by four to six times. One in three adults are affected by high blood pressure (hypertension), making it the most important (controllable) factor.
- Cigarette Smoking Damages the walls of blood vessels, raises blood pressure and speeds up the clogging of arteries. Smokers are twice as likely to have a stroke than nonsmokers.
- Obesity Strains the circulatory system and increases the chances of other risk factors, such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
- Sleep Apnea Increases blood pressure, may cause blood clots.
(Sources: American Stroke Assn., National Stroke Assn.)
