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Each year 700,000 people in the US suffer a stroke. Five hundred thousand of these strokes are first occurrences, while the rest are repeat strokes.

What are the effects of stroke?

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Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America and the No. 1 cause of adult disability. There are 7 million stroke survivors living in the US today and two-thirds of them are disabled.

What are the most common types of stroke?

Ischemic strokes due to a blockage of blood flow to an area of the brain account for 87% of all strokes. The other 13% are hemorrhagic strokes due to bleeding inside the brain.

Stroke Warning Signs:

* Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body

* Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding

* Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes

* Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination

* Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

If you detect one or more of these signs, call 911 immediately!

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Facts:

How many people have TBI?

Of the 1.7 million who sustain a TBI each year in the United States:

52,000 die

275,000 are hospitalized

1.365 million are treated and released from an emergency department.

The CDC estimates that 6 million Americans currently have a long-term or lifelong need for help to perform activities of daily living as a result of a TBI.

What causes TBI?

Falls (35.2%);

Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (17.3%);

Struck by/against events (16.5%);

Assaults (10%)

Unknown/Other (21%).

Stroke and Brain Injury resources for more information:

BINA Stroke and Brain Injury Assistance: http://www.binausa.org/

National Institutes of Health – National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/stroke.htm

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tbi/tbi.htm

Brain Injury Association of America: http://www.biausa.org/

American Heart Association/American Stroke Association: http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/

National Stroke Association: http://www.stroke.org/site/PageNavigator/HOME

The Brain Aneurysm Foundation: http://www.bafound.org/

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