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Stroke care

Brain attack (stroke):
Are you at risk?

Select every statement that applies to you.

You are a man older than age 45.

You are a woman older than 35 or you have passed menopause naturally or through surgery.

You have a close blood relative who had a heart attack or stroke before age 65.

You smoke, or live or work with people who smoke every day.

Your total cholesterol level is 200 mg/dL or higher.

Your HDL (“good”) cholesterol level is less than 40 mg/dL for men and less than 50 mg/dL for women.

You don’t know your total cholesterol or HDL levels.

Your blood pressure is 120/80 mm Hg or higher, or you have been told that your blood pressure is too high.

You get less than a total of 30 minutes of vigorous exercise (such as brisk walking, running, swimming or cycling) at least three days each week.

You are 20 pounds or more overweight.

You have diabetes or take medicine to control your blood sugar.

You have had a heart attack or a stroke.

You have coronary artery disease.

A doctor said you have carotid artery disease or have had a stroke.

You have an abnormal heartbeat.

If you have two or more risk factors, please see your doctor for a complete risk assessment.

Risks you can control

You can control many of these risk factors by simply making a few changes in your everyday habits.

High blood pressure: Your blood pressure is checked with two numbers. The top number (systolic) shows the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats. The bottom number (diastolic) shows the pressure in your arteries when your heart rests.

You have high blood pressure if you usually have a top number of more than 140 and a bottom number of more than 90. High blood pressure puts stress on your blood vessel walls. This can lead to clots or bleeding.

Check your blood pressure at least once a year. Have it checked more often if you have a family history of heart disease or high blood pressure.

Smoking: Tobacco use damages your blood vessel walls, speeds up clogging of your arteries, raises your blood pressure and makes your heart work harder. If you smoke, stop. After five years, your stroke risk is the same as someone who has never smoked. Your doctor can give you information about quitting smoking.

Heart disease: If you have atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat), the upper right chamber of your heart beats quickly and out of rhythm. Blood pools in your heart and often forms clots. These clots travel to your brain through your bloodstream.

Carotid artery disease: Your carotid arteries carry blood to your brain. When plaque (a fatty substance) builds up in your neck arteries, you are at risk for stroke.

High cholesterol: When plaque (a fatty substance) builds up in your artery walls, blood cannot travel to your heart. When too much LDL builds up on your artery walls, plaque forms and blocks blood flow in your vessels leading top your heart, legs and brain. This can cause heart disease, peripheral vascular disease and strokes.

HDL helps to get rid of extra cholesterol from your blood and tissue. This may prevent or reverse blood vessel problems by taking the cholesterol from the plaque. Learn more about cholesterol...

Alcohol abuse: Drinking too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure, cause heart failure and lead to stroke. Assess your alcohol use...

Extra weight: Carrying extra weight strains your circulatory system. Extra weight also makes you more likely to have high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Learn about losing weight...

Risks you cannot control

Age: Your chance of heart attack or stroke increases with age (usually older than age 65).

Gender: Men have more strokes and heart attacks than women do. However, the chances of heart attack are greater for women who are past menopause.

Family history: Your chance of heart attack or stroke increases if a close blood relative has had a heart attack or stroke.

Prior heart attack or stroke: If you have had a heart attack or stroke, you have a higher risk of having another one. Someone who has had a heart attack has a greater chance of having a stroke, too.

Diabetes: Diabetes increases the chance of heart attack and stroke in both men and women.

Race: In the United States, African Americans have a higher rate of high blood pressure and stroke.

Return to assessment.

More than 750,000 Americans will have a stroke — or brain attack — this year, and 160,000 cases will be fatal. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer.

Through prevention, education and treatment, Allina Hospitals & Clinics is working to lower these numbers and improve a patient's chances of recovering from a stroke with fewer complications.

Hospital-based care

• Abbott Northwestern Hospital, Neuroscience Institute, Minneapolis, Minn.
  A certified Primary Stroke Center
  • immediate stroke intervention and management, including clot-busting (thrombolytics) medicine
  • designated units with specially trained staff dedicated exclusively to caring for stroke patients
  • neurologists on site 24/7
  • imaging and diagnostic services for determining cause of stroke and preventing second stroke
• United Hospital, Nasseff Neuroscience, St. Paul, Minn.
  A certified Primary Stroke Center
  • integrated, comprehensive approach to stroke care, including diagnosis, treatment with clot-busting (thrombolytics) medicine
  • emergency care with 24/7 Neurology services
  • inpatient care in a designated stroke unit
  • 64 slice CT, 3T MRI and Biplane Neuro-angiography to diagnose stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA or "mini-stroke")
• Mercy Hospital, Coon Rapids, Minn.
  • immediate stroke care, including clot-busting (thrombolytics) medicine
  • imaging and diagnostic services for determining cause of stroke and preventing second stroke, including 64-slice CT scanner with angiography and 3T MRI
  • emergency care with a neurologist available 24/7
  • specialized critical care in the intensive care unit
• Owatonna Hospital, Owatonna, Minn.
  • coordination of acute stroke care protocols with certified stroke centers at Abbott Northwestern Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital
  • immediate access to a CT scanner to determine treatment based on type of stroke
  • treatment with clot-busting (thrombolytics) medicine, rapid transport for neurological care
• Unity Hospital, Fridley, Minn.
  • stroke support group
  • occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech language therapy provided on an outpatient basis (provided by Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute)

Rehabilitation and ongoing support

• Sister Kenny Rehabilitation Institute
  

  Located throughout the Twin Cities, with a dedicated team specializing in stroke rehabilitation. Rehabilitation services available at Abbott Northwestern, Mercy, United and Unity hospitals (inpatient) or through home-based or outpatient services

• Stroke support groups
  

  If you or a loved one, is recovering from a stroke, it may feel like you are the only one trying to understand the immense changes in your life. Be assured that others have similar feelings. Support groups offer stroke survivors and family members a safe place to share those feelings, understand changes and enrich their lives. We have stroke support groups in Buffalo, Fridley, Minneapolis and St. Paul.

• Community stroke screenings and education
  

  A personalized screening will provide you with a report evaluating your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes.

• Geriatric Psychiatry Program

  As one grows older, conditions like stroke can disturb the ability to function or cope. Allina Mental Health's Geriatric Psychiatry Program involves families as their loved ones are cared for in the safe settings of United Hospital or Unity Hospital.

• Care Navigation Help Desk
  

  When you or a loved one has many medical needs, trying to determine how to get help and what services exist can be difficult. Allina Care Navigation Help Desk is committed to going beyond your medical needs — making it easier to stay in control, maintain independence, have peace of mind, and enjoy life.

Related Links

What is stroke?

Understanding Stroke (online manual)

Is it a stroke? Richard's story

Wrestling with stroke: A teen's story

First published: 07/05/2005
Last updated: 07/05/2005

Reviewed by: Allina Patient Education experts