A study in Neurology Journal followed nearly 32,000 Swedish women for over 10 years. The authors found that women who made positive lifestyle choices greatly reduced their risk of stroke. The choices the study looked at were following a healthy diet, drinking alcohol moderately, never smoking, staying physically fit and having a healthy body mass index decreased their chances of having a stroke substantially.
Stroke is the 4th leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States. Some stroke risk factors can’t be changed. They include age (your risk of stroke approximately doubles with each decade of life after age 55), heredity, race (African Americans have a much higher risk factor than Caucasian do probably as a result of higher levels of salt sensitivity), sex (women have more strokes than men), and whether or not a previous stroke occurred. But many stroke risk factors can be changed.
Each year about 800,000 Americans suffer a new or recurrent stroke. Of those, more than 137,000 will die. Sixty percent of stroke victims are women.
A third of Americans can’t recall at least one warning sign for stroke. Here they are:
- Face drooping
If a person’s smile is uneven or if one side droops or is numb
- Arm weakness
If one arm drifts down when both have been raised
- Speech difficult
Is speech slurred or spoken incorrectly
- Time to call 911
Other symptoms you should know include, sudden numbness or weakness in the arms, legs or face, confusion or trouble understanding, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, sudden headache with no known cause.
Stroke costs the country about 36.5 billion each year including lost productivity, health care services and medications according to the Centers for Disease Control.
If you are interested in why a lawyer is interested in stroke, come to a free seminar and find out.