Blacks and Strokes: What You Need to Know
How and why strokes affect African-Americans.
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May is National Stroke Awareness Month - This month marks National Stroke Awareness Month. Do you know that Blacks have an increased risk for having a stroke? Read more about what strokes are, how they can be prevented and how they impact African-Americans. — (@kelleent) Kellee Terrell (Photo: SCIEPRO/Getty Images)
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What is a Stroke? - A stroke occurs when blood stops flowing to your brain and brain cells die. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America and a leading cause of adult disability. (Photo: Purestock/Getty Images)
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Most Strokes are Preventable - While up to 80 percent of strokes are preventable, nearly 795,000 people in the U.S. still will have a stroke each year. Strokes are linked to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and not exercising. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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The Stats: Blacks and Strokes - Overall, African-Americans are twice as likely to suffer from a stroke compared to our white counterparts and Black men are 60 percent more likely to die from a stroke compared to white men, says the Office of Minority Health. But women are more likely to have strokes compared to men. (Photo: Rick Gershon/Getty Images)
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How Serious Are Strokes? - Not all strokes look the same: Small strokes can just be experienced as pain in one’s arms or legs while severe strokes can cause paralysis and take away someone’s ability to speak. Some people recover completely from strokes, though 75 percent of survivors have some type of disability. (Photo: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images
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Do You Know What a Stroke Looks Like? - Some common signs are: sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg (especially on one side of the body); sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing; sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; and sudden severe headache. Call 911 if you see or have any of these symptoms.(Photo: Blend Images/ERproductions Ltd/GettyImages)
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We Are Less Likely to Immediately Call 911 - Studies show that because we are less likely to know the signs of a stroke we tend not to call 911 when someone is suffering from one. Early medical care can be the difference between life and death when it comes to having a stroke. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
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Why Us? - We are disproportionately affected by strokes because we disproportionately have the diseases that increase our risk for one: Obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease. Not having these diseases under control with meds—another common problem—increases our risk as well. (Photo: Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post)
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Stop Smoking! - Smoking increases your risks of heart disease and high blood pressure, causes clots in your vessels, damages cells that line the vessel walls—all of which can increase your chance of stroke too. (Photo: Anueing/Getty Images)
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What You Can’t Control - There are some stroke factors that you cannot change, such as age, gender, family history, race, sickle cell disease and a past heart attack or stroke. (Photo: Tonivaver/Getty Images)