May 1, 2001
Contact: Jennifer Day, (313) 577-1058, jday@med.wayne.edu

Tip Sheet: Turn to WSU experts during Stroke Awareness Month

May is National Stroke Awareness Month. Stroke is the third single leading cause of death and the No. 1 cause of adult disability. About 700,000 people in the United States suffer strokes each year; 150,000 die of them. It’s an important story, so during the month, turn to experts from Wayne State University’s School of Medicine and its Comprehensive Stroke Center, which is working to elevate public awareness of stroke and motivate people to reduce their risk.

How can stroke risk be reduced?
Fifty to 65 percent of all strokes are preventable, and 80 percent of strokes can be predicted in only 20 percent of the population. People who smoke as well as those with high blood pressure, diabetes, and atrial fibrillation (which is an irregular heartbeat) are at higher risk. Stroke is not a random thing, said Steven Levine, MD, professor of neurology. Seemant Chaturvedi, MD, associate professor of neurology, is working to determine whether certain drugs typically used to reduce cholesterol levels may be used to reduce stroke risk. Talk to members of our stroke team for stories about this and other ways to reduce stroke risk.

What should you know about stroke if you’re African American?
Seemant Chaturvedi, MD, associate professor of neurology, established in studies that African-American stroke patients under 55 were much more likely to have strokes caused by blockages in blood vessels inside the skull, while white stroke patients under 55 were more likely to have strokes caused by blockages in vessels in the neck. What does this mean in terms of prevention? Controlling high blood pressure may be particularly important among younger African Americans. In general, African Americans are twice as likely to suffer strokes than those of other racial backgrounds. Find out more about Dr. Chaturvedi’s research, which also includes studies on the effectiveness of two drugs in the prevention of recurrent strokes in African-American patients.

If you have a stroke, will your hospital know how to treat it?
Wayne State University School of Medicine research has shown that not all hospitals that treat acute stroke have facilities or personnel continually prepared for stroke evaluation and treatment. Bradley Jacobs, MD, assistant professor of neurology and lead author on studies dealing with whether area hospitals are prepared to treat strokes, believes metro-Detroit hospitals can do more to help patients survive strokes with fewer and less severe disabilities. For one thing, only 4 percent of patients who were studied during one of his projects received a drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which eliminates or significantly reduces disability if it is administered within three hours of a stroke.

How do you recover from stroke-induced dyslexia?
Stroke patients commonly are diagnosed with acquired dyslexia as a result of brain injury from a stroke, but they rarely receive treatment. Margaret Greenwald, co-director of the WSU Brain, Language and Communication Laboratory, has joined forces with physicians and researchers to help stroke patients learn to read again. Call Jennifer Day at (313) 577-1058 to learn more.

With more than 1,000 medical students, WSU is among the nation’s largest medical schools. Together with the Detroit Medical Center, the school is a leader in patient care and medical research in a number of areas including cancer, genetics, pediatrics and the neurosciences.