World Stroke Day: Taking steps to prevent stroke

Anyone can have a stroke, but certain behaviors and medical conditions can increase your risk for stroke. Today is World Stroke Day, a great day to remember that you can prevent the life-threatening consequences of stroke.

Know the signs and symptoms of stroke

One of the best ways to help save lives from stroke is to know what a stroke looks like. Learning about stroke can help you act fast to save a co-worker, friend or relative. Although stroke risk increases with age, strokes can -- and do -- occur at any age.

The five most common signs and symptoms of stroke are:

* Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.

* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or difficulty understanding speech.

* Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.

* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or lack of coordination.

* Sudden severe headache with no known cause.

Signs of stroke begin suddenly. If your symptoms go away after a few minutes, you may have had a "mini-stroke," also called a transient ischemic attack. Although TIAs do not cause permanent damage, they are a warning sign of a future stroke and should not be ignored.

Act fast to help someone having a stroke

If you or someone else experiences one or more signs of stroke, call 9-1-1 right away. Every minute counts. Stroke patients who arrive at the emergency room within 3 hours of their first symptoms are usually healthier three months after a stroke than people who receive delayed care.

Talk to your health care team about stroke prevention

If you have any medical conditions that increase your risk for stroke, such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or heart disease, there are steps you can take to lower your risk.

Make sure you and your family members have a physical or checkup every year, including checking cholesterol levels, monitoring blood pressure, and managing diabetes. (Under the Affordable Care Act, certain preventive health screenings are covered at no charge to you.)

Follow your health care team's instructions carefully when taking medications to treat your medical conditions. Ask questions if you don't understand something.

Practice health living habits to prevent stroke

Healthy eating. Both sodium (salt) and alcohol can raise your blood pressure if you have too much of them each day. Smoking cigarettes also raises your blood pressure. Eating foods high in cholesterol can build up fatty deposits, called plaque, on the walls of your blood vessels. These deposits can block the flow of blood to the brain, causing a stroke.

To help prevent stroke, prepare meals with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and limit the amount of saturated fat, trans fat, sodium and cholesterol in your meals. To help keep blood pressure in a healthy range, help family members avoid (or stop) smoking, and limit alcohol use to no more than one drink per day for women or two drinks per day for men.

Physical activity. Being overweight or obese can raise total cholesterol levels, increase blood pressure, and lead to diabetes. But being physically active will help you and your family members maintain a healthy weight and keep blood pressure and cholesterol in a healthy range. The surgeon general recommends adults engage in moderate-intensity physical activity for two hours and 30 minutes every week.

Stop stroke in your community

Community efforts to prevent stroke

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the Million Hearts initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. As part of the initiative, José shared his story of being temporarily paralyzed on the left side of his body and confined to a wheelchair after he had a stroke. José slowly recovered with the support of his wife and children. Family members and friends are the most important source of support for stroke survivors during recovery and rehabilitation.

You can share your commitment to heart disease and stroke prevention by taking the Million Hearts pledge.

World Stroke Day brings together advocacy groups, survivor support networks, volunteer stroke societies, public health authorities, health care professionals and community members to support and improve stroke education, advocacy, prevention, treatment and long-term care and support for survivors.

Health Beat is a weekly spotlight on a wide range of health issues. The information contained here was provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. View the CDC features online at www.cdc.gov/features.