Many blacks don't know stroke risk

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Coretta Scott King, Luther Vandross and Robert Guillaume suffered a stroke, but only 43 percent of U.S. black adults know African-Americans are most at risk.

Blacks are almost twice as likely to have a stroke as whites, and about 100,000 African-Americans will suffer from a stroke this year, according to survey by the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association.

The survey of African-Americans, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 70 percent of U.S. black adults think they are knowledgeable about stroke. However,

-- Only 30 percent correctly define stroke;

-- 49 percent know stroke symptoms;

-- 51 percent of African-American adults do not think that they will ever have a stroke.

Yolanda King, daughter of Coretta Scott King and the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., has teamed with the American Stroke Association to begin Power To End Stroke -- an aggressive education and awareness initiative to reach African-Americans, who are at greater risk than other ethnic groups.