Recognize the symptoms of stroke

When someone has a stroke, rapid treatment can mean the difference between life and death, and between major and minor disability. But according to an article on the HealthDay News website, more than half of people who experience symptoms of what may be a stroke do not seek medical treatment.

The American Stroke Association says that stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Roughly 700,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke each year, and about 150,000 people die of stroke. For stroke survivors, between 15 percent and 30 percent will suffer permanent disability of some kind.

At a meeting of the American Stroke Association that took place in San Francisco this week, Virginia Howard, who is an epidemiologist at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, presented findings from a recent study:

"We're looking at reasons for the differences in stroke mortality between different people and different parts of the country," Howard explained.

Researchers have already recruited more than 20,000 participants and are working toward 30,000. Participants include black and white adults aged 45 years and older.

For this part of the study, researchers asked participants if they had experienced any stroke symptoms (such as sudden weakness, numbness, sudden loss of vision) and, if so, whether they had sought medical care.

Researchers also asked if a health-care professional had told participants that they had suffered a stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA) -- also called a "mini" or "warning" stroke.

Slightly more than half (51.4 percent) of those who reported symptoms but no physician diagnosis of a stroke did not seek medical care, the researchers said.

Participants were 23 percent more likely to seek medical care if they had prior heart disease and 22 percent more likely if they had either high blood pressure or diabetes.

Howard says, "People don't think you can prevent a stroke, but you can. You just have to be aware of the risk factors and pay attention to those before you have a stroke."

According to the American Heart Association, risk factors for stroke include smoking, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, family history, prior stroke, and advancing age.

In addition to understanding the risk factors for stroke, people also need to be able to recognize these warning signs of a stroke:

• sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• sudden confusion, including trouble speaking or understanding
• sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination
• sudden, severe headache with no known cause

If you experience any of these symptoms, or observe them in someone else, seek medical attention immediately.

For more news and background information about this topic, visit the Stroke page on the AircrewHealth.com website.