S = SPEECH, or any problems with language
T = TINGLING, or any numbers in the body
R = REMEMBER, or any problems with memory
O = OFF BALANCE, problems with coordination
K = KILLER HEADACHE
E = EYES, or any problems with vision
Month: October 2016
CDC Stroke Statistics
Stroke Fact Sheet
Source: Interactive Atlas of Heart Disease and Stroke
- Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, killing more than 130,000 Americans each year —that’s 1 of every 20 deaths.1
- A stroke, sometimes called a brain attack, occurs when a clot blocks the blood supply to the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts.
- Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Every four minutes, someone dies of stroke.2
- Every year, about 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. About 610,000 of these are first or newstrokes; 185,000 are recurrent strokes.2
- Stroke is an important cause of disability. Stroke reduces mobility in more than half of stroke survivors age 65 and over.2
FIRST 24 HOURS
On October 26th, 2015, my wife and I sat down to watch our favorite show, “Blindspot,” at 10:00 pm. It had been a pretty regular day, I had just got up from doing a little work on my laptop, I am a Physical Therapist by trade. In the next 30 minutes my life would change drastically. Over the years, I have been exposed to the worst medical trauma that life can send your way and one of my worst fears was happening, as a blood clot had dislodged from my heart, rapidly running up to my brain. It happened so fast that the last thing I remembered, (several months later) was the loss of vision in my right eye. I had just had a Cerebrovascular incident, better known as a stroke. I was just 49 years old at the time.
Continue reading “FIRST 24 HOURS”
How Effective Are New Drugs in Stroke Prevention
How Effective Are New Drugs in Stroke Prevention?
For decades, warfarin was the only oral blood thinner available to reduce the risk of stroke for patients with atrial fibrillation.
Warfarin use requires ongoing blood tests to monitor its effect and has numerous drug and food interactions. Now a number of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulant (NOAC) drugs are available for patients with atrial fibrillation. Continue reading “How Effective Are New Drugs in Stroke Prevention”