A stroke is an emergency requiring immediate medical attention.

Strokes occur when blood flow to the brain is interrupted, causing brain cells to begin dying from lack of oxygenated blood.  About 780,000 Americans have a new or recurrent stroke each year. Every 40 seconds someone will have a stroke.  Every three to four minutes, someone dies from a stroke.

Common Symptoms Of Stroke

• Numbness or weakness in the body
• Trouble speaking and understanding
• Dizziness or loss of balance or coordination
• Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Severe headache with no known reason. 

High blood pressure is the number-one risk factor for stroke.  Smokers double their risk of getting a stroke. Women who take estrogen plus progestin raise their risk of ischemic stoke by 44 percent.

North Shore's Primary Stroke Care Center combines the resources of many medical specialties to quickly evaluate and treat patients with complex medical needs.

The stroke team includes Emergency Department physicians, Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, Interventional Radiologists and Radiologists who specialize in the care of strokes.  The team is available round-the-clock to respond when a patient with stroke symptoms comes to the hospital.

The Brain Attack Coalition, a group of 14 national organizations, developed joint recommendations for hospitals to create stroke care centers as a way to improve the quality of care for stroke patients.

“At North Shore, the Primary Stroke Center helps us diagnose and treat strokes more quickly," says CEO Manny Linares. "We have the ability to use evidence-based medicine to establish written protocols for stroke care. These are designed to improve patient care and quickly get patients the care they need. These protocols have proven to reduce stroke-related complications and improve quality of life.”