Sunday, May 25, 2008

Strokes and the presidency


As the presidential campaign continues to heat up and Stroke Awareness Month is winding down, I ran across an interesting article, citing almost a quarter of U.S. presidents have suffered strokes, during of after their time in office.

A link to the article: Newswise Medical News Stroke Expert: 10 of the Nation's 43 Presidents Have Suffered Strokes.

"Woodrow Wilson was so incapacitated by a series of strokes that his wife, Edith, became the virtual acting president," says the article. "Franklin Roosevelt died of a massive stroke on April 12, 1945, leaving the presidency to an unprepared Harry Truman just as World War II was ending."

More recently, former President Ford, now deceased began slurring speech during a 2000 interview.

A stroke doesn't distinguish between a president or a pauper or anyone in between -- so keep aware of stroke symptoms.

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