Raise Stroke Awareness in Your Community

Genentech, in collaboration with National Stroke Association and American College of Emergency Physicians, has developed a variety of tools and resources to help you build a successful stroke awareness campaign in your community. And you can easily customize many of these materials by adding your institution’s logo (National Stroke Association materials are not customizable). Visit StrokeAwareness.com today for these new resources:

Build a community outreach program:

Stroke Awareness Planning Guide
F.A.S.T. Materials (poster, magnet)
Risk Assessment Scorecard (National Stroke Association)
Community Presentation on Stroke (National Stroke Association)
Explaining Stroke brochure (National Stroke Association)
Promote the campaign through mass media:

Journal Ad
Billboard
Radio Public Service Announcement
Stroke Awareness Campaign Online Banners
Amplify your message through public relations:

PR Toolkit Guide
News Release Templates
Stroke 101 Fact Sheet (National Stroke Association)
Royalty-Free Image Library
Raise awareness through social media:

Social media best practices
Suggested awareness materials and links for use on Twitter and Facebook
Download or order these resources at

An article By Todd Neale, Senior Staff Writer for MedPage Today
Published: May 16, 2013
Reviewed by F. Perry Wilson, MD, MSCE; Instructor of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Planner

Depression appears to be a risk factor for stroke among middle-age women, even after accounting for other variables, an Australian study showed.

Among women in their late 40s and early 50s who were followed for up to 12 years, meeting criteria for depression was associated with more than double the likelihood of having a stroke (OR 2.41, 95% CI 1.78-3.27), according to Caroline Jackson, PhD, and Gita Mishra, PhD, of the University of Queensland in Australia.

The relationship was partly explained by age, socioeconomic status, lifestyle, and physiological factors, but remained statistically significant after adjustment for those variables (OR 1.94, 95% CI 1.37- 2.74), they reported online in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

“Our findings contribute to the currently limited evidence on potential age differences in the association between depression and stroke, and suggest that the effect of depression may be even stronger in younger women,” they wrote.

“Further research investigating age differences within the same cohort is needed, since the identification of such differences will have important implications for policy and practice,” they continued. “In particular, this will inform the development of effective targeted prevention and intervention approaches.”

Depression has been associated with a greater stroke risk in prior studies, but there is some evidence pointing to differences by age.

To explore the issue in middle-age women, the researchers turned to the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. The analysis included 10,547 stroke-free women ages 47 to 52 who were surveyed every 3 years from 1998 to 2010.

At each survey, depression was assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale shortened version and an inquiry about whether the women were using antidepressants. The researchers classified women as having depression if they reported taking an antidepressant in the previous 4 weeks or they scored 10 or higher on the depression scale.

At each time point, roughly one-quarter of the women had depression. During follow-up, 177 had a first stroke.

The association between depression and stroke remained significant after adjustment for several factors, including age, socioeconomic status, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, hysterectomy/oophorectomy, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and body mass index, and in sensitivity analyses using different definitions of depression.

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Teach your social network about #stroke with National Stroke Association’s awareness posts and tweets!

For an example of their tweets and posts, click on Posts and click on Stroke Awareness Social Media posts.

Like the individuals who experience them, no two strokes are exactly the same. Learn more about the common physical, communication, emotional and behavioral effects that stroke can have on a survivor and find great tips for improving and adapting to make the most of your recovery.

NATIONAL APHASIA AWARENESS MONTH
JUNE 2013
June is around the corner, and you know what that means – National Aphasia Awareness Month! This year’s theme for National Aphasia Awareness Month is “A Million Thanks for Helping to Spread the Word!” This theme was created with this year’s Host Group, the Stroke Comeback Center of Vienna, VA. Thank you to the folks at Stroke Comeback for helping us come up with such a great and meaningful theme! We are also excited to be adding an International partner to our celebration! Thanks to March of Dimes Canada and the York-Durham Aphasia Centre for helping to spread aphasia awareness in Canada.

Awareness Month Packets
As a big “thanks” to all of you who plan on spreading the word about aphasia even more than you usually do during the month of June, we are again sending out our famous Awareness Month Packets, which will include:
Awareness Month Posters with the image above and information about aphasia
Brochures about aphasia
Ideas on how you can celebrate National Aphasia Awareness Month
So much more!

If you are interested in receiving a packet, please send an email with your name and complete mailing address to naa@aphasia.org.

For more ideas in how you can make this June a more meaningful Aphasia Awareness Month, click on National Aphasia Association.

Spread stroke awareness during May, National Stroke Awareness Month, by hosting a community presentation. A community presentation can help spread crucial information about stroke warning signs and symptoms, risk factors and what to do when someone has a stroke. Follow this easy step-by-step guide to help ensure your success.

Contact National Stroke Association for more information on Community Presentations 101.

The Stroke Network, Inc. is an on-line stroke support organization and are available to everybody, worldwide. Since 1996 they have provided on-line stroke support and information to well over 250,000 visitors to the site. The Stroke Network is the homepage for a network of several other smaller web sites owned by The Stroke Network Inc.

The Stroke Network provides on-line support to stroke survivors and stroke caregivers of adult stroke. They have found that a stroke caregiver or another member of the stroke family will seek out a web site looking for information about stroke after their loved one has just had one.

Visit our, twice a day, daily chat sessions. Whether you just want to talk or have serious questions of other, more experienced, stroke survivors or stroke caregivers, our hosted chat sessions are the place to come.

Click on the Chat Schedule link, under the Quick Links section, to find a chat session that is convenient for you.

The Stroke Network has been hosting stroke support chats for over 15 years! We know what we are doing and are here to support you!

Find out more on their CHAT .

How to Quickly Spot Signs of Stroke: Experts – Prompt recognition and treatment offer best chance of full recovery
By Mary Elizabeth Dallas for HealthDay on Monday 13, 2013.

MONDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) — Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arms or legs on one side of the body, confusion and trouble speaking are among the signs that someone is having a stroke. The sooner a stroke is recognized and treated, the greater the chance of recovery, experts say.

“When someone has a stroke, they may show either slight or extremely noticeable physical changes,” Dr. Randolph Marshall, chief of the stroke division at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, said in a hospital news release. “The most effective way to prevent the permanent damage associated with stroke is to recognize the signs of an attack and to seek medical attention immediately.”

Dizziness and trouble walking, loss of vision in one or both eyes and a severe headache that comes on suddenly for no apparent reason are other signs that someone is having a stroke. Early treatment, however, can prevent or possibly reverse the damage caused by strokes. The experts advised remembering the acronym “FAST” to help people recognize a stroke sooner and reduce any long-term damage.

F for Face: Does someone’s face look uneven?
A for Arm: Do you notice one arm hanging down?
S for Speech: Check for slurred speech or other signs of trouble speaking.
T for Time: Call 911 and seek immediate medical attention.

One of the most common treatments for stroke is tissue plasminogen activator, the “clot-busting” treatment also known as TPA. The drug is injected into an artery or vein to dissolve a clot and restore blood flow to the brain.

Revascularization is another treatment for stroke in which micro-catheters are placed inside the artery to remove blockages. In all cases, immediate medical attention can help reduce the damage caused by a stroke, according to the news release.

Learning how to prevent strokes with certain lifestyle changes can also save lives, the experts pointed out. “Stroke statistics are sobering: It’s the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of adult disabilities,” said Dr. Babak Navi, director of the Stroke Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, in the news release.

“On average, someone dies of stroke every four minutes,” he added. “The good news is that approximately 80 percent of strokes can be prevented.”

Lifestyle changes that can significantly reduce the risk of having a stroke include the following:

Cut back on salt. Reducing salt intake can lower blood pressure, reducing the risk for stroke. Instead of salt, season food with a variety of spices.

Eat a healthy diet. Reduce LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol levels to improve heart health and reduce the risk for stroke. Cholesterol levels should be 200 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or below.

Quit smoking. Smokers have twice the risk of having a stroke. Smoking damages blood vessels, increases blood pressure and accelerates the clogging of arteries.

Exercise. People who are overweight or obese are at greater risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke. Losing weight can lower the risk for stroke and ease the strain on the circulatory system.

Even with these lifestyle changes, the experts pointed out that people aged 55 years or older are still at greater risk for stroke. Also at greater risk are black people, Hispanics and those with a family history of stroke or “mini-stroke” (also called a transient ischemic attack).

Although strokes are more common in men, women who have strokes are more likely to die from them, according to the news release.

SOURCE: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, news release, May 6, 2013

Read, email, save this article, click on STROKE .

May 13, 2013 3:19 PM by Megan Sutton for Advance

One of my favorite features of the iPad for people with reading impairments is the ability to read any selected text aloud. This one accessibility tool makes it possible for people with aphasia or dyslexia to listen to emails, websites, and e-books instead of reading them. As an added bonus, the feature can be set to highlight each word as it is read, providing extra therapeutic stimulation. What if the device could also read text from any source? Using OCR (optical character recognition) technology, the text embedded in photographs can be turned into editable text, allowing users to take photos of printed materials, extract the text, and use it just like any other digital writing.

One app that employs OCR technology to recognize text in photos is OCR Scanner by Smart Mobile Software, available on App Store and Google Play. The recognized characters are displayed in plain text that can be copied, emailed, or read aloud within the app. The app works best when the picture only contains text displayed on a plain background. Five scans per day are included in the free app; unlimited scans are available through in-app purchase or you can buy the unlimited version of the app called Mobile OCR Pro for $2.99.
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Learn the sudden warning signs of stroke so you can recognize and respond to stroke FAST. Cut Out wallet card and keep it handy for emergency.