Stroke is our nation's third leading cause of death, killing nearly 160,000 Americans every year. Every year approximately 730,000 Americans have a new or recurrent stroke. Every minute in the United States, someone experiences a stroke. Over the course of a lifetime, four out of every five American families will be touched by stroke.
Stroke is the largest single cause of neurologic crippling in our nation.
Approximately one-third of all stroke survivors will have another stroke within five years. Of the 570,000 Americans who survive a stroke each year, approximately 10 to 18 percent will have another stroke within one year. The rate of having another stroke is about 10 percent per year thereafter. Four million Americans are living with the effects of stroke. About one-third have mild impairments, another third are moderately impaired and the remainder are severely impaired.