Travel Rx
Sudden Death
Recognizing the signs of stroke and getting immediate medical help can save your life.
On average, someone in the United States dies of a stroke every three to four minutes. That’s a startling statistic — such an important one that GT is devoting two Travel Rx columns to the subject. The second part will appear in the April issue.Stroke is the primary cause of disability and the third leading cause of death in the United States. Each year, approximately 700,000 Americans experience a new or recurrent stroke. In 2007, that translated to $62.7 billion spent on stroke-related medical costs and disability.
Of those who survive a stroke, 13 percent of men and 22 percent of women aged 40 to 69 will have another stroke within five years. These figures increase as men and women reach 70 and older. The 2004 overall death rate for those suffering a stroke was 50 percent. However, the death rate differs along race lines: 48.1 percent for white males and 73.9 percent for black males; 47.4 percent for white females and 64.9 percent for black females. Yet the good news is that strokes can be treated if medical attention is sought immediately, and fewer Americans are dying of stroke today than 20 or 30 years ago.
A stroke occurs when a brain artery ruptures or becomes blocked, cutting off vital supplies of blood and oxygen. If the artery remains blocked for more than a few minutes, brain cells begin to die at a rate of 2 million per minute, increasing risk of permanent brain damage, disability or death.
About 80 percent of strokes are ischemic in nature, occurring when blood flow to the brain is decreased by a narrow or blocked artery. Ischemic strokes can be either thrombotic (when a blood clot forms in an artery of the brain) or embolic (when a blood clot elsewhere in the body travels to the brain, where it lodges in an artery).
About 20 percent of strokes are hemorrhagic, in which a blood vessel in the brain leaks or ruptures as a result of conditions such as hypertension or aneurysm. A less common cause is an AVM (arteriovenous malformation), an abnormal tangle of thin-walled blood vessels present at birth.
Temporary symptoms such as slurred speech or blurry vision may occur when a blood vessel to the brain becomes blocked for a short period of time. This is known as a TIA (transient ischemic attack) or mini-stroke. While a TIA always lasts less than 24 hours and generally does not cause permanent brain damage, it is a serious warning sign — more than one-third of all people who experience a TIA will have an actual stroke — and should not be ignored.
Some risk factors for stroke are beyond our control, such as being over age 55; being male; being African-American; having diabetes or having a family history of stroke, TIA or heart attack. If you have one of these risk factors, it is important that you learn about medical and lifestyle changes you can make to prevent a stroke.
Medical risk factors that can generally be controlled include high cholesterol, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, heart disease, carotid artery disease, sickle cell disease, peripheral artery disease and sleep apnea.
As with many conditions, lifestyle choices can add to your risk factors. The big three are smoking, being overweight and drinking too much alcohol. Other risk factors include the use of birth control pills or other hormone therapy, passive smoking and the use of illicit drugs such as cocaine. In 2005, the FDA warned that all NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) with the exception of aspirin carry heart risks. Other conditions associated with stroke include stress and depression, which increase blood pressure.
April’s column will address stroke and travel as well as stroke prevention and treatment. For information, visit www.stroke.org.
Don’t wait until it’s too late
Call 911 for immediate medical attention if you experience any of these symptoms:
• Sudden weakness in an arm, hand or leg
• Numbness of one side of the face or body
• Sudden trouble seeing with one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking
• Sudden confusion
• Trouble speaking or understanding
• Dizziness or loss of balance or coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
