May is National Stroke Awareness Month. In an effort to raise the awareness of the importance of stroke education, St. Mary’s is offering free blood pressure screenings to the public and associates from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. each Tuesday during the month of May in the lobby of St. Mary’s Center for Advanced Medicine. Dates for the screenings include May 3, May 10, May 17 and May 24. In addition, a variety of educational materials will be available in the lobby throughout the month of May.
St. Mary’s earned Advanced Certification as a Primary Stroke Center by the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association in 2014.
A stroke, sometimes called a brain attack, occurs when a blockage stops the flow of blood to the brain or when a blood vessel in or around the brain bursts. Although many people think of stroke as a condition that affects only older adults, strokes can and do occur in people of all ages. In fact, nearly a quarter of all strokes occur in people younger than age 65. Strokes can affect people of all ages and backgrounds. Someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds. Each year, almost 800,000 strokes occur in the United States. It is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States, killing nearly 130,000 Americans each year. Every four minutes, someone dies of stroke.
Strokes often lead to serious, life-changing complications that include:
- Paralysis or weakness on one side of the body
- Problems with thinking, awareness, attention, learning, judgment, and memory
- Problems understanding or forming speech
- Difficulty controlling or expressing emotions
- Numbness or strange sensations
- Pain in the hands and feet
- Depression
