Stroke Incident essays

Stroke Incident essays Strokes, also referred to as a brain attack, deal with a problem with the blood supply to the brain. It is the third leading cause of death in the United States costing $30 billion a year. It strikes about 700,000 Americans each year, killing 160,000 victims annually. Twenty-percent of cases result because of internal bleeding within the brain. The other 80% of all strokes are associated with blockages in the carotid arteries and are preventable! On average, someone in the U.S. suffers a stroke every 53 seconds. Studies show that 10-18% will experience another stroke within a year, and 20-34% within 3 years. African-Americans also die of stroke about two times more than whites do, due to their higher risk factors of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and sickle cell anemia. In addition, 4 million Americans are living with the effects of a stroke: 1/3 mild, 1/3 moderate, and 1/3 severe. Almost half of the people who are going to have a stroke have no symptoms prior to the time of stroke. The symptoms suffered depend on which part of the brain is affected. Some common symptoms experienced are: sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm, or leg, paralysis down one side, sudden dimness or loss of vision, particularly in one eye, speech impairment or loss, confusion, inability to swallow, sudden severe headache with no known cause, dizziness, unsteadiness, or sudden falls. For some, the effects are more minor and last less than 24 hours. When this happens, doctors call it a mini-stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). For others, the effects are more severe, sometimes improving after a few weeks as other parts of the brain take over, sometimes leaving people permanently disabled. There are many things that put people at risk of having a stroke, and it is important to try and keep these to a minimum. Even though there are some risk factors that cannot be changed such as getting older, being male, fam ...