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World stroke day

World Stroke Day is observed on October 29.

I didn’t really think about strokes until I had mine. My two strokes were caused by a torn carotid artery because of a genetic condition called fibromuscular dysplasia.

The bottom line is 20% of my brain is dead and I have aphasia. I was 50 years old and in good health.

This photo shows my brain scan. The white sections on my brain shows dead brain tissue.

Here are some sobering strokes statistics:

Stroke kills about 140,000 Americans each year--that’s 1 out of every 20 deaths.

Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. 

Every 4 minutes, someone dies of stroke.

Every year, more than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. 

About 610,000 of these are first or new strokes.

About 185,00 strokes--nearly 1 of 4--are in people who have had a previous stroke.

About 87% of all strokes are ischemic strokes, in which blood flow to the brain is blocked.

Stroke costs the United States an estimated $34 billion each year.

This total includes the cost of health care services, medicines to treat stroke, and missed days of work.

Stroke is a leading cause of serious long-term disability. 

Stroke reduces mobility in more than half of stroke survivors age 65 and over.

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