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June is Stroke Month and thousands of Heart and Stroke Foundation of Alberta, NWT & Nunavut volunteers will be knocking on doors across Alberta and the Territories, “Taking A Step to Strike Out Stroke” and helping to reach the provincial goal of $840,000.
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in Canada and the leading cause of severe, long-term adult disability. What’s more, the aging population is expected to result in the doubling of the incidence of stroke in the next 10 years. But there is hope: 80 per cent of strokes are preventable. We’ve got a long way to go, but with your help, we’re well on our way to striking out stroke.
In 2000, the foundation spent more than $66 million in research, funding more than 900 researchers and research teams in medical institutes, universities and hospitals across the country. Since 1956, this has totalled more than $1 billion in research support.
An estimated 50,000 Canadians have a stroke each year — that’s one person every 10 minutes.
Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the number one risk factor for stroke. It affects one in five Canadians.
In central Alberta, 700 volunteers are working toward the Stroke Month fundraising goal of $48,750.