• A stroke is not a death sentence, nor does it necessarily mean you must live with diminished capabilities. Preventative measures, such as taking medicines and making some lifestyle changes, can prevent a first or second stroke; today's rehabilitation facilities and techniques can help stroke patients greatly improve their physical and mental abilities.
  
• Most of the steps you can take to prevent a stroke will also help prevent heart attack.  So you get "double benefits" when you:
• keep your blood pressure under control
• keep your cholesterol under control
• eat a "head-healthy" and heart-healthy low fat diet
• get more physical exercise
• stop smoking
• stop drinking alcohol heavily
  
• The body manufactures more cholesterol at night than during the day.  Therefore, cholesterol lowering medicines are most effective when taken during the evening, at dinner or before bed.
  
• A transient ischemic attack or TIA is a temporary disturbance in brain function that creates stroke-like symptoms, such as dizziness, loss of ability to speak or walk, mental confusion, weakness, etc.  But these symptoms usually last for less than 24 hours and possibly as short as a few minutes. 
• A TIA may not be serious in itself, but it's a warning sign that a person may be a potential stroke victim. 
  
• Angioplasty is the process of opening or widening a narrowed blood vessel. First used in the 1970s to treat coronary artery disease, it is now used to open the carotid arteries that carry blood to the brain, to prevent stroke. Recently, the procedure has included the placement of a stent. 
  
• A stent is an object put inside a blood vessel to keep it open and unblocked.  It's usually a tiny tube made of a metallic mesh and looks something like a wire cage or spring. 
  
• Ignore television commercials for prescription drugs.  The "pill" advertised may not be appropriate for your problem, and probably will have side effects.  Get your medical treatment from your doctor, not your television.

*Quick Facts have been reviewed by Medical Advisors and are current as of October 2005.