'Mind your risks' especially important for high-risk populations

The best way to "treat" a stroke is to prevent it. This is from someone who had one.

Of course, not every stroke is preventable. Mine was a cryptogenic stroke. But the great majority are preventable, and here's an item about efforts in the area of racial disparities in stroke:

"The prevalence of hypertension is higher in blacks, but its impact is even greater in the black population. An increase of 10mmHg in blood pressure is associated with an 8 percent increase in stroke risk among whites but a 24 percent increase in stroke risk in blacks," said Dr. Walter Koroshetz, director of NINDS.

Earlier this year, the NINDS launched a stroke prevention campaign called Mind Your Risks, designed to educate people aged 45-65 about the link between uncontrolled high blood pressure and the risk of developing dementia later in life. The campaign messaging launched in the Stroke Belt, an area of the southeastern U.S. where stroke incidence is high and REGARDS has focused its efforts.

"This study shows that improved risk factor prevention and management is critical if we are going to reduce the apparent increased risk of stroke and stroke mortality in blacks," said Claudia Moy, Ph.D., acting director of the Office of Clinical Research at NINDS, and one of the study authors.

Education about stroke risk is important, especially for populations with higher incidence. Remember that the life you save might be your own!