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Healthy Balance

A Stroke Risk, Prevention, & Treatment Guide

having a stroke can cause half your face to droop, like this woman'sIt’s not like having a baby, joint replacement surgery, or chemo. You can’t plan for it. When a stroke strikes, your survival depends on others. Your ability to recover may rely on your health and other factors, only some of which you can control.

That’s why you should learn about stroke now. Think you’re too young to be at risk? Or maybe you believe you’re too healthy to worry?

Spoiler Alert: Strokes Affect All Ages

It’s true that most strokes affect people with certain risk factors, including older age. But they also happen to:

  • Babies, children, and young adults
  • People who eat well and exercise
  • COVID-19 survivors, at a higher rate
  • Women, with different symptoms than men
  • People of color at higher rates than white people

A stroke itself may come and go quickly. But the impacts can be long-lasting. You may totally heal from a stroke. But death and disability can also happen.

You Can Change the Outcome

You might know that some medical conditions can lead to stroke. But did you know that risk factors can include:

  • What you eat
  • How much you drink
  • Stress levels
  • Genetics

What to Do When Stroke Strikes

Even if you make healthy choices, the causes of stroke can stay hidden. So you’ll want to decide now where you want to go for care.

Choosing UVA Health, you’ll be trusting:

  • Our Comprehensive Stroke Center certification, the highest possible designation
  • Researchers who have developed and improved upon the best treatments for stroke
  • Teams primed with the latest technology and telehealth connections, meaning you get fast to the right tools
  • Our 24/7 readiness to treat every kind of stroke, even bleeding strokes
  • Recovery methods to prevent more strokes

Learn more about how to prevent stroke and what to do if it happens.

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