Stroke Awareness Foundation Blog

Because stroke victims rarely call 911, the only way to have them reach the emergency room quickly is to educate the ENTIRE population about the warning symptoms of stroke and the need to call 911.

Stroke Alert is a grassroots initiative by health care providers to work with local media and local organizations to reach out to the whole population of a community on one single day. The goal is to educate everyone with regard to the warning signs of stroke and the need to call 911 immediately

Stroke Alert began in Wisconsin in 2004. By 2007 it had spread to regions centered on Philadelphia, Long Island, Chicago, San Francisco and Broward County. For Stroke Alert 2008, we had 84 Partners in 17 states. As of March 2009, we have grown to 172 Partners in 28 states. We are more than half way toward our dream of creating a truly national event by 2012. Beyond that, well, we hope that this simple message can spread to all nations of the earth.

For the second consecutive year the Stroke Awareness Foundation combined efforts of local healthcare providers in advertising the warning signs of stroke in the San Jose Mercury News.  We have also included many of the May events being sponsored by fourteen local agencies.  You may also view upcoming events at www.strokeinfo.org 

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:  “eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!”

As a natural fruit, the banana undoubtedly has nutritional advantages but whether this email outlines them accurately remains to be seen.

TruthOrfiction.com checked with one of the biggest distributors of bananas, the Chiquita Banana Company.  A spokesperson told us that bananas are a wholesome, nutritious food and a good source of important vitamins, minerals, and macro nutrients including vitamin C, potassium, vitamin B6, and dietary fiber.  He said that although he would like to say that everything in the eRumor is true, he is not able to and added that much of the email is based on assumption.

You usually can’t tell!   High blood pressure usually has no symptoms.  It is truly a “Silent Killer.” About 72 million Americans and 1 in 3 adults have it, and many don’t even know they have it!  The only way to know if your blood pressure is high is to get it checked regularly by your doctor.  High blood pressure means the pressure in your arteries is elevated.  Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against blood vessel walls.  It’s written as two numbers, such as 113/78 mm Hg.  The top, systolic, number is the pressure when the heart beats.  The bottom, diastolic, number is the pressure when the heart rests between beast.  Normal blood pressure is below 120/80 mm Hg.

 Here are some other important things you can do:

1. Know what your blood pressure level is, and what it should be.

2. Talk to your doctor about your blood pressure.

            -           Take medications as prescribed

            -           Make lifestyle changes as recommended

                        •           Weight loss

                        •           Daily physical activity

                        •           Healthy diet

                        •           Limit salt

                        •           Limit alcohol

Making lifestyle changes is the best way to control blood pressure.

In addition to controlling blood pressure, lifestyle changes also reduce other risk factors.

If making lifestyle changes is not enough to control blood pressure, then drugs may be used. The risk of side effects that may occur from these drugs is generally much less than the health risks that result from high blood pressure. Also, lifestyle changes may reduce the amount of drugs needed to control blood pressure.

Some simple stroke prevention techniques do have a net positive return on health care costs.  Potentially lowering premiums and reducing the costs of lost productivity; reducing costs of lost productive not only from current employees directly affected by stroke, but also from employees forced to become caregivers for stroke survivors.

Lifestyle choices  can be as effective as medications in preventing stroke and can reduce the risk of stroke by more than 33 percent.

•  Smoking cessation represents the most obvious but most difficult goal to achieve. 
•  We all know that exercise decreases stroke risk. 
•  Simple diet choices can also prevent stroke.