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KNOW THE WARNING SIGNS OF A STROKE

Stroke Warning Signs

Sudden numbness, weakness, or paralysis of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body

Slurred speech or difficulty speaking and understanding words

Sudden blurred vision, particularly in one eye

Unexplained dizziness or loss of balance

Sudden, severe or unexplained headache

Sudden fainting, convulsions or coma (person will not wake up)

What You Can Control:

Manage High Blood Pressure – High blood pressure weakens the arteries, putting them at risk of bursting. In other cases, arteries may form clots that obstruct blood flow to the brain, or the clots may break off and lodge in the brain’s arteries.

Stop Smoking – Cigarette smoking injures blood vessel walls and promotes hardening of the arteries. Smoking also elevates blood pressure and is harmful to the lungs (which ultimately provide the oxygen to your blood that your brain needs.)

Limit Alcohol Intake – Heavy drinking, including “binge” drinking, is associated with strokes.

Lower Your Cholesterol – A diet high in fat contributes to the formation of plaque in the arteries, which can obstruct blood flow or break apart and cause blockages in brain blood vessels.

Control Your Weight – Being overweight puts more strain on the circulatory system and puts you at risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes – all risk factors for a stroke.

Treat Irregular Heartbeat – If you have any kind of heart trouble, be sure your physician is aware of it and that you receive, and follow, a treatment plan.

Manage Known Heart Disease – many stroke risk factors are the same as those for heart disease. If you have heart disease, follow your physician’s advice – you’ll be controlling your risk for strokes at the same time.

And What You Can’t Control:

Race (strokes occur more frequently in African – Americans)

Age (strokes are more common in people over 55 years of age)

Heredity (family history of strokes)

Gender (men are more susceptible to strokes)

In these situations it’s even more important to attend to the risk factors you can control – blood pressure management, weight control, etc.

Because fast, expert-level treatment can make an enormous difference in the recovery from a stroke, Jewish Hospital offers the latest in comprehensive stroke treatment. Jewish Hospital is a JCAHO Certified Primary Stroke Center with 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week emergency coverage by neurologists and a comprehensive, expert-level continuum of stroke care unmatched by any other hospital in Kentucky.

When a stroke occurs, minutes matter.

So does where you go for help. With six area locations, Jewish Stroke Care has a facility near you. Our emergency departments are located throughout the community and are ready to assist you whenever and wherever you have concerns about your brain health.

Jewish Emergency Departments are located at the following facilities:

Jewish Hospital Comprehensive Stroke Center
Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital
Jewish Hospital Medical Center East
Jewish Hospital Medical Center South
Jewish Hospital Medical Center Southwest
Jewish Hospital Shelbyville

After symptoms first appear, there is a critical three-hour window in which treatment with an intravenous activator is proven to decrease the risk and extent of permanent brain injury and associated disability. After the three-hour time window, options for therapy depend on the individual’s circumstances.

Jewish Hospital is ranked by U.S. News and World Report as one of “America’s Top 50 Hospitals” in neurology/neurosurgery, heart care and heart surgery, respiratory care and endocrinology. In addition, the American Stroke Association has named us a Silver Performance Achievement Award winner. Jewish Hospital is Turning Guidelines into Lifelines by using the AHA’s premier hospital-based quality improvement program “Get With The Guidelines” for the treatment of heart patients. We continue to be recognized as a leader with both Jewish Hospital and Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospital being named a HealthGrades 2008 Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence, placing us in the “Top Five Percent” of hospitals in the nation for hospital-wide clinical excellence.

Jewish Hospital’s Comprehensive Stroke Center offers you:

Immediate Emergency Department access
Access to the region’s first and most experienced stroke fellowship-trained, board-certified vascular neurologist, Dr. James Gebel
Neurosurgeons for surgical interventions when required
Access to neuroradiologists and interventional neuroradiologists
Dedicated inpatient stroke unit with monitored beds
Dedicated neurointensive care unit
Specialty-trained nurses, and facility-wide trained nurses and support staff on stroke recognition
Comprehensive patient and family stroke recognition and prevention education

Offering You a Full Continuum of Care

Combined with the region's foremost rehabilitation hospital, Frazier Rehab and Neuroscience Center and VNA Nazareth Home Careherapy programs for stroke patients, Jewish and Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospitals stroke programs offer expert-level, comprehensive care for stroke and TIA patients from the moment they arrive at the emergency room door until the moment they arrive at their own front door. Finally, by offering free stroke risk assessment screenings and stroke recognition and prevention education to the public, Jewish and Sts. Mary & Elizabeth Hospitals are actively working to improve stroke recognition in our community so that more patients may benefit from acute intervention.

In addition to offering first-rate clinical care for stroke victims, Jewish Hospital continues to advance in cutting-edge stroke care by participating in multiple, ongoing National Institutes of Health and industry-sponsored national and international multi-center clinical trials for both acute ischemic and acute hemorrhagic stroke patients. Jewish Hospital is also participating in secondary stroke prevention research.

To stay on the leading edge of the newest rehab therapies in the world, Frazier Rehab Institute is participating in robotically-assisted, high-intensity occupational therapy, which surpasses that which is capable by human hands with the Robotic Arm Therapy and the NESS H200™, both to help gain mobility and independence, further improving quality of life and productivity.

Frazier Rehab Institute is also the lead center in the nation for the NeuroRecovery Network, which is supported by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. Under the direction of Susan Harkema, Ph.D., the NeuroRecovery Network serves to support programs that provide intensive activity-based rehab, including Locomotor Training, promoting the recovery of walking, motor function and overall health and quality of life for stroke and other spinal cord injuries. This program gives patients access to the latest national and international research in spinal cord medicine.