How much do you really know about stroke? Answer these questions True or False and find out how you did below.
- There are warning signs to a stroke.
- A stroke can occur in your brain or your heart.
- Strokes only happen to older people.
- Race is a risk factor for stroke.
- More women die from breast cancer than stroke.
- Smoking doubles your risk of stroke.
- Only people with high blood pressure can have a stroke.
- False. You can have a stroke with no warning signs or symptoms other than the stroke itself.
- False. A stroke is a disease of the blood vessels in the brain that can cause brain damage.
- False. Just ask Tedy Bruschi, who had a stroke when he was 31. Although most people who have a stroke are 65 or older, even teenagers and children can have a stroke.
- True. Stroke is more common, and more deadly, for African Americans than any other racial group in the United States.
- False. Most women are highly aware of the danger of breast cancer, but stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer in the United States each year.
- True. In fact, smoking increases your risk for a host of other diseases, from cancers of the lung, mouth, and esophagus to bronchitis and emphysema.
- False. A recent study found that middle-aged people with blood pressure just slightly above normal were 68% more likely to have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure.
Sources: Five Star Senior Living, Go Red for Women