What is a Stroke?

A stroke occurs when the blood flow to the brain is stopped by a blood clot or disease of blood vessels in the brain. The brain can only survive a few minutes without blood.

Stroke is not a heart attack, it's a brain attack.

Stroke is a major public health problem in the U.S. and worldwide. Currently, Tissue Plasminogen Activator (TPA), a clot busting drug, is the only approved treatment for Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS).

Stroke is the third leading cause of death, behind heart disease and cancer in the U.S. More than 700,000 people suffer a stroke each year. About 500,000 are new strokes and about 200,000 are recurrent attacks, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control/Prevention. The good news is stroke can be prevented.

The focus is to identify persons with high blood pressure-the number one risk factor for stroke. Free blood pressure screening, health counseling and valuable stroke information will be available.