STROKE OCCURS IN ONE IN TEN

> One in 10 had 'silent strokes,' study finds
> Brain scans revealed condition which can raise risk of memory loss

> "Silent" strokes may occur in early middle age
> Brain scientists discover why adventure feels good
> Brain injuries from falls, a deadly risk, for seniors
> 'Silent' heart attack boosts dementia risk
> Hormone therapy pills may double clot risk

Middle-aged people showed that 10 percent of them had suffered a stroke
without knowing it, raising their risk for further strokes and memory loss,
U.S. researchers said.
>
> People with atrial fibrillation, the most common type of irregular heart
> beat in people over 65, had more than twice the rate of these silent
> strokes, they said.
>
> Silent cerebral infarctions or SCIs are brain injuries caused by a blood
> clot that interrupts blood flow to the brain.

> "The findings reinforce the need for early detection and treatment of
> cardiovascular risk factors in midlife," Dr. Sudha Seshadri of Boston
> University School of Medicine and colleagues wrote in the journal Stroke.
>
> "This is especially true since SCIs have been associated with an increased

> risk of incident stroke and cognitive impairment," they wrote in the
> report published Thursday.
>
> The researchers based their findings on routine magnetic resonance imaging

> or MRI scans from about 2,000 people with an average age of 62.
>
> They were the children of participants in the long-running Framingham
> study - a study of the health and habits of nearly an entire town in
> Massachusetts. People in this so-called Framingham Offspring Study had
> medical exams every four to eight years.
>
> Brain scans of these people found that 10.7 percent had a stroke even
> though they showed no stroke symptoms. Of these, 84 percent had only a
> single lesion in the brain.
>
> Risk profile
> The researchers then looked back to their medical records to see if these
> people had a risk profile that might predict a stroke.
>
> What they found was that atrial fibrillation more than doubled the risk of

> silent stroke. In atrial fibrillation, the heart's two upper chambers do
> not pump effectively enough to empty properly, leaving blood to pool and
> raising the risk of blood clots.
>
> Three percent to 5 percent of people over 65 have this problem.
>
> The study could not determine whether treating atrial fibrillation would
> reduce the risk of silent stroke, the researchers said.
>
> Other factors that increased the risk of silent stroke included high
> levels of blood homocysteine, a sulfur-containing amino acid found in the
> blood; carotid artery disease; high blood pressure and especially high
> systolic blood pressure - the top number in the blood pressure reading.

> About two-thirds of people over the age of 65 have high blood pressure,
> according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. High blood
> pressure has long been implicated as a risk factor for silent strokes.
>
> "Although previous studies have also reported a significant association of

> hypertension and tHcy (total homocysteine), ours is the first study to our

> knowledge to demonstrate a significant relationship between atrial
> fibrillation and SCI," the researchers wrote.
>
> Warning signs of a stroke include changes in balance, slurred speech or a
> droopy face, weakness in one side, partial vision loss and severe
> headache, according to the American Stroke Association.
>
> Stroke is the No. 3 cause of death in the United States, behind heart
> disease and cancer.

WHEN IN DOUBT

S -- ASK A PERSON TO " SMILE "
T-- ASK A PERSON TO " TALK "
R -- ASK A PERSON TO " RAISE HIS HANDS "

IF ANY ONE ACTION ALSO IS AFFECTED, SUSPECT " STROKE ", AND TAKE THE PATIENT

TO THE HOSPITAL, IF POSSIBLE WITHIN THE FIRST HOUR, AS IT IS THE " GOLDEN
HOUR ", FOR THE BEST RESULTS.