STOP YOUR NEXT STROKE

If you have suffered from a stroke or stroke-like episode, you are not alone.  Roughly 700,000 new strokes occur each year and 4.4 million people are stroke survivors in the United States.  If you include those who have suffered from temporary stroke-like episodes (transient ischemic attacks or TIAs), this will add 4.9 million, bringing the total number to 9.3 million survivors.  Stroke is the number one cause of disability and the third-leading cause of death in the United States.  More worrisome is the fact that once you have suffered from a stroke or stroke-like episode, your chances of having another stroke are dramatically increased.  Between 25-40% of stroke patients and 25-30% of TIA patients will have a first stroke or a recurrent stroke within the next five years.  Fortunately, numerous steps can be taken to significantly reduce your chances of having a stroke.  This guide will provide you with the knowledge and tools necessary to develop your own personal plan for stroke prevention.

I am a neurologist with a special interest in stroke and its prevention.  As part of my daily practice, I advise patients about aspects of their lives and health they can change to reduce their stroke risk.  Despite my advice regarding the most important and proven ways to reduce stroke risk, I am continually surprised to discover my patients focusing on minor or unproven treatments for stroke prevention.  One reason for this phenomenon is probably the extraneous and potentially contradictory information on stroke prevention provided by the mass media.  Also, it is much easier to take a vitamin supplement, for example, than to work on difficult issues such as quitting smoking or losing weight.  This book is an easy-to-read guide that will reorient stroke and TIA patients on stroke prevention essentials.  You can use it to develop your own plan of prevention, based on your stroke type and risk factors.  The prevention plan that results will be ‘do-able,’ that is, not overwhelming, but also will cover 99% of what can be done to prevent strokes.

The Goal Chart, which accompanies this book, is the key to its organization.  The Goal Chart lists many goals, some of which it will be appropriate for you to follow and others which you should ignore.  Which goals you select will depend on what type of stroke you have had and the probable cause.  As you read through the book, you will learn which goals are appropriate for your situation and you will be asked to place an ‘X’ next to those goals on the chart.  When you have finished the book, you can then use the Goal Chart as a reminder of your goals and to track your progress as you achieve them.  To the right of the goals are blank spaces to record either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ regarding having achieved a goal, or to write the relevant value for that date.  If you bring the chart along when you visit your doctor, it will also help him or her follow your progress and give appropriate advice or make medication changes.

In the first chapter of the book, some general information about strokes is presented and you will also learn about your stroke type.  Depending on your stroke type, you will then either be referred to Chapter 2 (Ischemic Strokes) or Chapter 3 (Hemorrhagic Strokes).  After reading the appropriate chapter for your stroke type, you should then read Chapter 4 (Putting It All Together).