Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

A U.S. adult has a stroke every 40 seconds

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 27, 2011 at 11:15 PM

ATLANTA, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Someone in the world dies from stroke every 6 seconds, and someone has a stroke every 40 seconds in the United States, federal health officials say.

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta -- speaking ahead of World Stroke Day, Saturday -- Americans should take immediate action to reduce their risk for stroke -- one of the leading causes of death in the United States. About 137,000 Americans die of stroke every year, Frieden said.

A stroke, sometimes called a brain attack, occurs when a clot blocks the blood supply to the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts.

"We can do so much more to prevent strokes and the new Million Hearts initiative offers opportunities for individuals, providers, communities, and businesses to apply tools we have readily available today to reduce strokes and heart attacks," Frieden said in a statement.

People can greatly reduce their risk for stroke via lifestyle changes including:

-- Taking aspirin for people at risk.

-- Controlling blood pressure.

-- Cholesterol management.

-- Smoking cessation.

Topics: Thomas Frieden
Recommended Stories
© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Health News Stories
1 of 20
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visited in Washington
View Caption
Veterans etch the names of their friends inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War on May 26, 2012 in Washington, DC. More than 58,000 names of the servicemen who were killed or missing in the war are engraved on The Wall. UPI/Pat Benic
fark
Parent upset after snowflake gets 'humiliating' joke award for not doing her homework. If only there...
This farmer thought he had only lost 99 cows, but then he rounded them up
Photoshop these soccer players
Tropical Storm Beryl enters Florida, immediately becomes depressed. Farkers fully understand why...
Andy Rooney's WWII scoop from Nov 7th, 1944: The day Nazi 'robot rockets' almost bombed New York...
Chances are, if you're growing a two foot tall marijuana plant in a pot outside your front door,...