Levan Singletary vividly remembers the day he had the first of his two strokes.
It was the morning after the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl in 2019. He got up early to move his car for street sweeping, ran back to the house and jumped back in bed.
His wife, Angela, stirred from sleep and asked him a question. When Levan answered, she noticed he was talking strangely. When she turned the light on, she saw his face and body looked different.
Both of Angela’s parents had suffered a stroke. She knew something was wrong and decided to take Levan to the hospital. Realizing she could not carry him downstairs, Angela called 911.
The EMT arrived a short time later and confirmed he was having a stroke. At the hospital, Levan was treated with Alteplase IV r-tPA, a drug that dissolves blood clots and improves blood flow to the brain. If administered within three hours (and up to four-and-a-half hours in certain eligible patients), the clot-busting drug may improve the chances of recovering from a stroke.
“I almost immediately regained full mobility after the treatment,” said Levan, a father of two who has worked in the postal service for 35 years.
The next day, however, Levan suffered a second stroke. His health care team took him back to the operating room to correct a tear in his artery.
Strokes can happen to anyone, at any age. In fact, globally about one in four adults over the age of 25 will have a stroke in their lifetime. During American Stroke Month, the American Stroke Association, is raising awareness that strokes are largely preventable, treatable and beatable.
A stroke happens when normal blood flow in the brain is interrupted. When parts of the brain don’t get the oxygen-rich blood they need, those affected brain cells die.
Response time matters when it comes to stroke. Unfortunately, most adults in the US do not know the F.A.S.T warning signs of a stroke.
Stroke Warning Signs/F.A.S.T.
If someone is having a stroke, they must get medical attention right away. Immediate treatment may minimize the long-term effects of a stroke and prevent death.
Learn how to spot a stroke F.A.S.T.:
— Face Drooping — Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is the person’s smile uneven?
— Arm Weakness — Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
— Speech Difficulty — Is speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like “The sky is blue.”
— Time to Call 911 — If someone shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 911 and get to a hospital immediately. Check the time so you’ll know when the first symptoms appeared.
Levan credits his swift recovery to his wife’s early recognition of his symptoms and immediate action to call 911. “It took about just an hour between the onset of my stroke symptoms and the time I got the treatment,” he said.
Stroke Prevention
A large majority of strokes can be prevented through education and lifestyle changes, such as moving more, eating healthy, managing your blood pressure, getting healthy sleep and quitting smoking and vaping.
Uncontrolled high blood pressure is a leading cause and controllable risk factor for stroke. Diabetes and obesity are also major risk factors. It is important for people to know their numbers and work with a health care professional to manage risks.
People with atrial fibrillation, also called AFib, are up to five times more likely to have a stroke. AFib is caused by a quivering or irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications. Most strokes caused by AFib can be prevented with effective treatment, but only about half of AFib patients receive proper therapy.
Additionally, having a stroke puts a person at a higher risk for a second one; however, there are things people can do to reduce their risk, starting with identifying what caused their stroke and uncovering and managing personal risk factors.
Levan said he always lived a healthy lifestyle — his blood pressure is normal, he doesn’t smoke nor drink and never misses his yearly physical exam. As a mail carrier, he also did a lot of walking. After recently shifting to coaching and teaching for the postal service, Levan picked up pickleball to stay active.
Stroke Risk Among Diverse Populations
Black Americans have a disproportionately higher prevalence of stroke and the highest death rate from stroke compared to any other racial group. More than two-thirds of Black Americans have at least one risk factor for stroke. Additionally, AFib risk factors are more prevalent among Black people. However, Black patients are less likely to be diagnosed with AFib, which may be related to race/ethnicity. Among other factors, this may be a result of unmanaged risk factors and socioeconomic disparities.
Among women, one in five between the ages of 55 and 75 will have a stroke, with Black women having the highest prevalence of high blood pressure and stroke. The root causes of these disparities are not fully understood. Evidence suggests this is potentially because of exposure to stroke risk factors among Black women at younger ages, as early as childhood.
High blood pressure during pregnancy, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and blood clots during pregnancy all increase a woman’s stroke risk during and immediately following a pregnancy.
F.A.S.T. Experience
The F.A.S.T. Experience is a new digital tool launched by the American Stroke Association this month that engages users in a virtual experience of what the warning signs of a stroke look, feel and/or sound like.
By simulating the symptoms of a stroke, such as face drooping, arm weakness and speech difficulty, the general public can better understand what stroke patients experience, spot stroke warning signs and help save a life.
To learn more about strokes, go to Stroke.org/StrokeMonth.