Strokes are scary. While 795,000 Americans will have a stroke this year, nearly 80 percent of strokes are preventable. Brain cells lacking the proper amount of blood flow begin to die within minutes. “To effectively Stop a Stroke, people must learn the signs and symptoms of stroke,” says Sarah Parker, MD, vascular neurologist at the INI Comprehensive Stroke Center at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center. “Many people wait to seek help and that is a big mistake. If you think you may be experiencing a stroke, you must call 911 and get medical help immediately.” You can Stop a Stroke by taking the following steps:

Step 1: Know what your risk factors are and how to treat them

• 80% of strokes are preventable by proper treatment of stroke risk factors
• More than half (58%) of Americans don’t know if they are at risk for stroke
• Talk to your primary care physician about the risk factors you have to make sure they are treated properly.
• Ask your primary care physician if you should be evaluated for other stroke risk factors.

Step 2: Know the signs of stroke
There is an easy way to remember the most common stroke signs:  F.A.S.T!
Face – one side of the face droops down or a smile is crooked
Arm – unable to lift an arm or keep an arm up without it drifting down
Speech – Slurred speech or inability to correctly repeat a simple phrase
Time – Time to call 911!

Other stroke signs are

• Sudden numbness on one side of the body
• Sudden dizziness
• Sudden loss of vision in one eye
• Sudden double vision
• Sudden severe headache

Seek medical attention even if these signs go away.

A Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) is when someone has a blockage of blood flow to part of the brain for a short period of time. It causes stroke symptoms that go away shortly after they start when blood flow returns to the brain.

• 15% of strokes are preceded by a TIA.
• The same risks that cause TIAs, cause strokes.

Treatable stroke risk factors include:

• Smoking – smokers have 2 to 4 times the stroke risk of nonsmokers or those who quit more than 10 years ago.
• Sedentary Lifestyle – moderate to vigorous physical activity 3-5 times a week may reduce ischemic stroke risk 35%.
• Atrial Fibrillation is an irregular heart rhythm that can increase risk of stroke up to 5 times.
• High Blood Pressure is the leading risk factor for stroke. Blood pressure should be below 140/90 mm Hg.
• High Cholesterol – Your total cholesterol should be less than 200. Your LDL (the bad cholesterol) should be less than 130.
• Diabetes Mellitus – fasting blood sugars should be between 90-130. Hba1c should be less than 6.5.

Not all risk factors can be changed.
Non-treatable risk factors include:

• Having a first degree relative with stroke increases your stroke risk.
• Being over the age of 65 increases stroke risk.
• African-Americans have nearly twice the risk for stroke than Caucasians

Strike 3 Know how to treat a stroke

• Patients who arrive by ambulance have faster treatment times.
• The faster someone gets treated, the higher chance they have of improving with little or no disability.
• Not every hospital has the ability and expertise to provide all stroke treatments – INI/OSF Comprehensive Stroke Center does, 24/7/365.
• The Comprehensive Stroke Center at OSF has three neurologists specially trained in stroke care.
• Not only are our Neurologists specially trained in stroke, they run an accredited stroke fellowship to train other Neurologists.
• A stroke is a brain attack.
• A stroke is an emergency – call 911 at the first sign of stroke and ask to be taken to the Comprehensive Stroke Center at OSF St Francis Medical Center. If you are outside of the Peoria area, ask to go to the nearest hospital – chances are it will be part of our stroke network.
• Strokes can be treated – INI/OSF Comprehensive Stroke Center expertly treats all kinds of strokes, no matter how complex.
• INI/OSF stroke neurologists train emergency medical personnel to recognize stroke and call ahead so the stroke team can be ready to treat the patient.

Learn your risk for stroke at www.ini.org/stroke.

Photo credit: itsmejust/iStock

Facts About Stroke

• Stroke is the number 1 cause of adult disability in the United States
• Stroke is the number 5 cause of death in the United States
• Someone has a stroke every 40 seconds
• Someone dies of a stroke every 4 minutes
• 4 out of 5 families will have a family member who has had a stroke 
• There are 7 million stroke survivors in the United States today. Two thirds of them are disabled.
• Strokes can occur at any age.
• 1.9 million brain cells die every minute during a stroke