May is National Stroke Awareness Month

Every 40 seconds someone in the U.S. has a stroke and around 800,000 people will have a stroke in the United States this year alone. A stroke is a blood vessel blockage going to the brain. A stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and can lead to significant disability. Control your risk factors to improve your brain health.

At the close of National Stroke Awareness Month, Dr. Ravi Gandhi and Dr. Eddie Needham spoke at a Stroke Lunch & Learn event at the Florida Department of Health in Seminole County. The event was in partnership with the American Heart Association and AdventHealth and featured an audience participation Q&A covering stroke risk factors, recent research and how to recognize symptoms.

Research has shown that unhealthy behaviors such as physical inactivity, poor diet, and smoking have an adverse effect on health and increase your stroke risk. For example, smokers have 2-4x increased risk of stroke. During National Stroke Awareness Month, the National Stroke Association is urging the public to look at their stroke risk factors, and pledge to make at least one change to reduce their stroke risk. Here’s how much stroke would be reduced if each were
eliminated:

– Hypertension 47.9%
– Physical inactivity 35.8%
– Lipids (blood fats) 26.8%
– Poor diet 23.2%
– Obesity 18.6%
– Smoking 12.4%
– Heart causes 9.1%
– Alcohol intake 5.8%
– Stress 5.8%
– Diabetes 3.9%

Dr. Ravi Gandhi: “I have had a significant family history of stroke. My grandfather had a stroke when I was young which left him paralyzed on his left side of his body. He ultimately died from complications related to this stroke. This was my motivation for dedicating my life to helping people who have had a stroke. It is because of this that I hold strong desires to educate people about stroke and encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles.”