Primary Prevention of Stroke

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, after coronary heart disease and cancer. There are approximately 500,000 cases of stroke each year; of these, 150,000 are fatal.1 Many survivors are left with mental and physical impairment and require assistance with activities of daily living. Twenty-eight percent of patients with stroke are under 65 years of age, and women account for 40 percent of the new cases.2 Blacks in the United States have a rate of mortality due to stroke roughly twice that of whites.3 There are over 3 million patients with stroke alive in the . . .