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Stroke Prevention
Friday
August 10, 2001
You're young, fit and strong, having a stroke is the last thing you need to worry about, right? Candace Gavan says, "The first thing that hit my mind was, ‘Doesn't that just happen to old people? I'm too young for this.’"
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Candace
was wrong. At age 26 she had a stroke, and her case is
not unusual. Every 53 seconds men and women, young and
old will suffer a stroke.
Known as a "brain attack," it happens when blood flow
to part of the brain is interrupted. Brain cells are deprived
of oxygen and die. Dr. Teitelbaum says, “It is still a
massive public health problem, mainly because of the lack
of recognition by most people of what the symptoms of
a brain attack are.”
Dr. Teitelbaum, a neurosurgeon at the University of Southern
California, says knowing the symptoms will save your life.
If you experience: numbness in your face arm or leg, confusion,
trouble speaking, or dizziness or severe headaches, get
to the hospital immediately.
And every minute counts because now there's a drug, tPa,
that can prevent brain damage but it must be given within
three hours of the first symptoms. Candace's was too late.
Her stroke wasn't diagnosed until 3 days later. Partially
paralyzed on her left side, simple tasks are now impossible.
She says, “I can't clap my hands. I can't go through a
buffet line and get food because I have no way to hold
the plate.”
But what she could do was move on with her life and that
meant having a family. Doctors told her not to, she could
have another stroke. But her husband John stood behind
her decision. He says, “That was really a key for her
happiness, so we decided to do it despite the risks.”
Raising four-year-old Ben is a challenge, but being a
mom has been the best medicine. Candace says, “A big part
of my life was over and I was not willing to give up the
other part which was motherhood. So I said I don't care
what it involves, I’m having a child and so we did.”
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