Question (from California): My husband, age 63, recently suffered a stroke. Although he didn’t have any of the known risk factors, and although I didn’t know at first what was going on with him, the good news is that I realized relatively quickly what was happening and got him to the hospital within a couple of hours of the onset. There he was treated with a drug called tPA, and he has made a very good recovery. Because my husband’s symptoms caught us off guard, I hope you will pass this message on to your readers because, since the incidence of stroke doubles with each decade of age, we are all potentially at risk.

Answer: Thank you for your timely e-mail, which we feel is an appropriate entrée to reminding our readers about the correlation between aging and strokes. According to the news service Heart Wire, strokes are projected to become the leading cause of death worldwide by 2030. Since medical authorities tell us that the incidence of stroke increases with age, strokes will inevitably become an increasing problem in the United States – and throughout the world -- as the baby boomers (whose oldest members are now 60) continue to age.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes tells us that there are the two forms of stroke: ischemic – blockage of a blood vessel supplying the brain, and hemorrhagic – bleeding into or around the brain. Strokes occur when the blood supply to part of the brain is suddenly interrupted or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into the spaces surrounding brain cells. Brain cells die when they no longer receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood or there is sudden bleeding into or around the brain.

Symptoms of stroke may include sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or legs, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion, or trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; and sudden severe headache with no known cause. If you experience any of these symptoms, you may be having a stroke or a mini-stroke and should go to the hospital as quickly as possible.

According to a new study published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, many Americans suffer strokes and either don’t know it or don’t do anything about it. The research tells us that as many as 18 percent of adults with no history of stroke have experienced at least one stroke symptom in the past. Stroke symptoms are reported to more likely occur in black Americans and in people with lower incomes, less education, poorer health status, and higher stroke-risk scores.

As our reader pointed out, tPA has proved to be extremely effective when administered within three hours of the first symptoms of stroke. An acronym for “tissue Plasminogen Activator,” tPA is a “clot-busting” drug used for certain patients who have had heart attacks or strokes. tPA is administered in a hospital setting by trained medical personnel through intravenous infusion.

Because medical experts continue to call for better public education about stroke symptoms and continue to stress the importance of getting to a hospital quickly should you have symptoms, we should try, as we age, to reduce the risk factors of stroke, which include smoking, hypertension, and diabetes. Exercise, diet, and, where appropriate, weight loss, are as important in preventing strokes as they are in preventing heart attacks.

So, thanks to our reader for her timely message. There is a good lesson here for all of us.