What: May Is National Stroke Awareness Month

Who: Experts from Johns Hopkins Medicine, including physician-scientists and clinical researchers, are available to discuss steps people can take to offset their risk for stroke and signs to know to seek fast treatment. Watch a video here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yynm_oadErQ.

Why: Stroke is the second-leading cause of death worldwide and the third-leading cause of disability. Most strokes — at least 80% in the U.S. — are called ischemic and are due to blocked arteries or blood vessels in the brain (or those that supply blood flow to the brain).

If treatment is provided within 4.5 hours of a person’s first symptoms, medication can be given to break up blood clots for ischemic strokes, which is why recognizing early signs is important. Starting treatment earlier — within an hour of symptoms — is ideal. In other cases, and depending on the location of the stroke, treatment may be provided within six to 24 hours. 

When: People should BE FAST if they notice these common signs of stroke:

Balance. Do you (or they) have a sudden loss of balance or coordination?
Eyes. Do you (or they) have sudden vision loss or double vision?

Face drooping. Can you (or they) smile without one side of the face drooping?
Arm drifting downward. Can you (or they) raise both arms?
Speech delays. Is it slurred or strange? Can you (or they) repeat a simple phrase?
Timing. Call 911 to support getting emergency treatment within 60 minutes to a few hours after experiencing symptoms.

Other symptoms, such as severe headaches and migraines without a known cause, can also occur, and are more common in women. Additional symptoms might include fainting, losing consciousness or feeling like one side of your body is weak or numb.

Innovations in research and medicine

Preventing stroke

According to international studies, investigators estimate that about half to 90% of strokes are related to modifiable risk factors. Risks that can be modified or changed could include taking steps to eat a heart-healthy diet, get regular physical activity, avoid tobacco and work with a health care provider to monitor or support normal blood pressure, blood sugar and body weight.

One Finnish study found that a two-year lifestyle intervention that provided adults age 60 and older with extra counseling and support to make these types of changes — specifically focusing on diet, physical activity and health monitoring— and that included cognitive training reduced the risk of stroke by about one-third seven years later compared with adults in the control group who received general health advice. 

Post-stroke recovery

To help people recover from stroke, physicians use existing therapies, including noninvasive brain stimulation, and other interventions, such as video game-like activities, to help people learn how to walk and move again, while restoring balance and other types of movement. They are also continuing to study new approaches.

Personalizing medicine

Through ongoing research, investigators are studying how to better predict, treat and help people recover from stroke. Part of these efforts is studying samples, such as circulating proteins in the blood, that could help pinpoint risk predictions before a stroke occurs and inform different types of treatment. It also includes using other measures, such as grouping strokes into different categories, or subtypes, to achieve similar effects and to support long-term risk monitoring and recovery.

Health resources 

To learn more about stroke, visit hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/stroke.

Contact: Please contact Jessica Frost at [email protected] if you are a member of the media who would like to interview an expert or learn about stroke research updates.

On the Web

hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/stroke