Drive launched to boost stroke awareness

The education effort will start this year in a string of states known as the "Stroke Belt."

By Jennifer Leopoldt, AMNews correspondent. Aug. 11, 2003.

Patients want information on their stroke risks, but many primary care physicians aren't providing it, according to the National Stroke Assn.

The group has launched a five-year education campaign, "Ask Your Doctor," aimed at sparking patient-physician dialogue on stroke.

Primary care physicians are crucial in stroke-prevention efforts because their regular contact with patients makes it easier to detect and discuss the risks, said David Willis, MD, a family physician in Ocala, Fla. "The whole goal is that we can do something so the patient doesn't have a stroke, or teach them to prevent a stroke so that, in the long run, their outcome will be better."

A survey by the stroke association showed that although 87% of patients would like to hear about stroke risk and prevention from their primary care physician, more than 30% said they do not receive any stroke education or screening at the doctor's office.

About 750,000 people experience stroke per year, but 80% of strokes can be prevented, said Kay Wan, spokeswoman for the National Stroke Assn.

Doctors should discuss with patients both risks they can do something about, such as hypertension, diabetes and weight, and uncontrollable risks, such as age and race, the stroke association said.

Physicians also can encourage healthy lifestyle choices, such as eating a low-salt, low-fat diet and not smoking.

"There's no reason to become nihilistic, simply assuming stroke is inevitable as a consequence of old age and it's not worth the patient's effort and the physician's effort to try to prevent it," said Creed Pettigrew, MD, MPH, a professor of neurology and director of the stroke program at the University of Kentucky, Lexington.