Stroke Awareness Foundation Blog

•  TIA’s are  transient episodes of a neurological dysfunction
• TIA’s are a high risk of early stroke
• There are approximately 780,000 strokes per year in the U.S. 10% – 30% of strokes are preceded by a TIA
• 50% of patients have a stroke within 48 hours of symptoms
• 10 – 15% of patients  have a stroke within three months.
• Rapid assessment and treatment initiation can reduce the risk of early recurrent stroke following a TIA by 80%

Projected costs to the United States of ischemic stroke and its aftermath add up to a staggering $2.2 trillion.   A new study suggests that U.S. Stroke costs are reaching $73 billion a year in direct and indirect costs.  Stroke in children costs are  at least $42 million annually.   You can help bring down the cost of stroke and prevent disability by knowing the signs and symptoms of stroke and the immediate actions that need to be taken in the event of Stroke.      Please learn the signs and symptoms and teach at least four of your friends or relatives. Stroke symptoms are the same for children as for adults.

 Symptoms of a Stroke:  

• Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
• Call 9-1-1  Don’t ”Shake it Off” “Wait and See” or “Just Rest for a While”                                                         

Strokes, or brain attacks killed more than 130,000 Americans last year and debilitate hundreds of people each day.  An individual only has a few short hours to rush to the hospital, receive an accurate diagnosis and then receive treatment to remove a debilitating clot before permanent brain damage occurs.  The best results are for those who arrive within 90 minutes of the onset of stroke symptoms.   Some later arriving patients may benefit by treatment but the focus should always be on fostering earlier presentations and treatment.

Today there are more than 640 primary stroke centers certified by The Joint Commission in the United States.   Nearly 80 percent of the population (250 million residents) lives within an hours drive of a stroke center and nearly 211 million residents lives within a 30-minute drive.   To find a primary stroke center in your area visit click on United States in the Certified Stroke Center box on our home page  at www.strokeinfo.org

Each year, 28 percent of people who suffer a stroke are under age 65. Stroke affects more than 700,000 individuals annually in the U.S. Four out of five families will be somehow affected by stroke over the course of a lifetime. When stroke happens time is of the essence, the sooner you seek appropriate treatment the better your odds of survival. Know where the closest Primary Stroke Center is to where you live and work. This knowledge could save your life!

On October 23, 2010 Frank Sinatra Jr. will perform his father’s greatest hits  accompanied by a
50-person orchestra created from Symphony Silicon Valley under the musical direction of
Terry Woodson.
 The evening is sure to be one of the premiere Silicon Valley social events of 2010, and we invite you to be a part of it.
Please visit www.strokeinfo.org  for limited VIP sponsorships and general ticket pricing.

All the proceeds from this special event  allows us to continue to improve community awareness and better prepare families and loved ones for what can be the devastating effects of stroke.

  Aspirin makes the blood cells (called platelets) less sticky, so they don’t clump together, form a clot, or stick to the walls of arteries, making them narrow.  While aspirin alone can’t prevent strokes, it may be an important part of your medical treatment.  Do not start taking aspirin daily without first checking with your doctor.  Although most strokes are caused by a clot, some studies suggest that people who take aspirin regularly may be a slightly greater risk of having a stroke caused by bleeding (hemorrhagic stroke).  Medications can be an important part of your treatment plan, they do not take the place of healthy eating, regualr physical activity, and stress managment.

Stroke accounts for almost 10% of deaths worldwide, claiming more lives than HIV/AIDS.  The residual impairment after a stroke can be a devastating reduction in function and capability, and seriously affects many people’s abilities to live and work independently. For people whose lives have been changed by stroke, the Internet can be a valuable tool.  It can be a source of information and support, an essential link with the outside world.   But it can also be home to dishonest business or provide false hopes and therapies to desperate people with promises of wonder cures.  Some web sites offer products and procedures that are not approved by the Federal Drug Administration.  (FDA).   Desperate for hope and cures, some of the 6 million U.S. stroke survivors are reaching for unproven and sometimes unsafe treatments. With few options available at home in America, some are searching the Internet for experimental treatments and often land on web sites promoting treatments overseas at a price tag between $25,000 and $35,000.   Western doctors warn that patients are serving as guinea pigs in countries that are not doing the rigorous lab and human test that are needed to prove some treatments are safe and effective. 

Desperate for hope and cures, some of the 6 million U.S. stroke survivors are reaching for unproven and sometimes unsafe treatments. With few options available at home in America, some are searching the internet for experimental treatments and often land on web sites promoting treatments overseas at a price tag between $25,000 and $35,000.

Western doctors warn that patients are serving as guinea pigs in countries that are not doing the rigorous lab and human test that are needed to prove some treatments are safe and effective.

It is a myth that stroke occurs only in elderly adults.  In actuality, stroke strikes all age groups, from fetuses still in the womb to centenarians. It is true, however, that older people have a higher risk for stroke than the general population and that the rise for stroke increases with age.  For every decade after the age of 55, the risk of stroke doubles, and two-thirds of all strokes occur in people over 65 years old.  People over 65 also have a seven-fold greater risk of dying from stroke than the general population.  And the incidence of stroke is increasing proportionately with the increase in the elderly population.  When the baby boomers move into the over-65 age group, stroke and other disease will take on even greater significance in the health care field.

There is still a widely held belief among physicians that very little recovery can occur beyond the first six or 12 months after a stroke.  However science results presented at the American Stroke Association’s 2010 International Stroke Conference show that high-intensity, repetitive rehabilitation exercises can help stroke survivors significantly improve functioning in their paralyzed arm and in their quality of life even years after their disabling event.