Preventing Stroke and Stroke Rehabilitation

About 5.7 Million stroke survivors are alive in the U.S. today. Recovering from a stroke may take several months, even years of medical treatment, therapy, and effort from the stroke survivor.

Female Speaker: The American Heart Association states that over 700,000 people suffer a new or recurring stoke each year in the United States alone. 22% of these die making stroke the third leading cause of death. David Alexander: A stroke is a sudden neurological change caused by problems with blood vessels in the brain. So, a sudden occlusion or cutting off of a blood vessel in the brain, causes damage to part of that brain, and the symptoms are often things like, sudden weakness, sudden loss of vision, difficulty speaking, difficulty walking. But there are a number of factors that increase your risk of stroke as we age, as the population gets older, the risk of having a stroke as you get older increases. In addition in populations in general, men more than women tend to have a stroke. In addition, there are certain differences in race. For example, African-Americans have the highest risk with Hispanics next and Caucasians the lowest of those three sub-groups, in terms of risk of stroke. Family history, some people have a strong family history of stroke or early stroke and that will be another factor in increasing a risk of stroke. Acutely, right when the stroke occurs, the person is generally taken immediately to the emergency room. It is a medical emergency and patients should call 911, if somebody suddenly has difficulty speaking, has weakness of one side, paralysis, sensory changes and occasional vision loss. If people have those symptoms they really should call 911, to be taken to an emergency room and what's done there is a number of things. The one specific medication to treat stroke in a very, very early part of stroke, it's called tPA, which is given intravenously and it stands for tissue plasminogen activator and it helps to break up the clot that may have formed in the brain in those patients to whom it's appropriate to give. Unfortunately, it's difficult to give and has to be given very early within 3 hours of the onset of the stoke. So, actually only a small percentage of patients nationwide, actually receive it at this point. Subsequent to that, then you want to treat, give good medical care. Bringing the blood pressure to the right level. Keep the temperature down. Make sure they have an intravenous hydration, prevent certain complications such as pneumonia or work to try to prevent complications like pneumonia or blood clots from developing. Find out why they had a stroke and treat the primary cause of that stroke if possible. Female Speaker: About 5.7 million stroke survivors are alive in the United States today. Recovering from a stroke may take several months, even years of medical treatment, therapy and effort from the stroke survivor. Many however, never regain lost functions due to stroke, leaving permanent disabilities. David Alexander: Once a stoke has occurred and in the days following that, there is acute medical treatment. Subsequent to that, patients make a gradual, gradual recovery and that gradual recovery can be aided by good rehabilitation therapy during that period of time, because the brain starts to make new connections, some are damaged and new connections formed and there are a variety of mechanisms by which the brain works to recover. That recovery phase, that recovery process is aided by specific therapy techniques, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy for example that, specifically work on tasks to train the brain how to act again, after it's been damaged. What one is able to do to prevent stroke, is to modify your risk factors, some of the things are both, are relatively easy or should I say simple but not easy. Things like weight loss, stop smoking, if you drink a lot of alcohol, probably reduce that, although light levels of alcohol may not be a risk factor for a stroke. The other aspects that you can do is to see your doctor, get your cholesterol checked, get your blood pressure checked and treat those, whether it's diet or medications, treat your blood pressure. Female Speaker: If someone you know is experiencing sudden symptoms such as a sudden droopiness or a loss of function of one side of the face or body, a sudden slurring of words or sudden extreme headache, call 911 immediately. It is critical that the person receives medical attention as quickly as possible. For more information on stroke, recovery, or rehabilitation from stroke related disabilities call 1-800-GS-CARES.