- Every 40 seconds someone suffers a stroke

 - Each year, about 795,000 people in the United States will suffer a new or recurrent stroke (610,000 are first-time strokes, while 185,000 are recurrent)

 - More than 137,000 people in the U.S. die from a stroke each year

 - About 60% of stroke deaths occur in females/About 40% of stroke deaths occur in males

 - One person dies of a stroke every four minutes

 - In 2010, stroke caused approximately 1 of every 19 deaths in the United States

 - 80% of strokes can be prevented

 - The American Heart Association recommends a daily limit of 1500mg of sodium; A salty diet may lead to high blood pressure, which is a major cause of stroke

 - From 2000 to 2010, the actual number of stroke deaths declined by 22.8%

Some of the risk factors associated with stroke include obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The following statistics highlight the prevalence of these factors:

 - In 2012, among Americans over the age of 18, 20.5% of men and 15.9% of women continued to be cigarette smokers

 - In 2011, 18.1% of students in grades 9-12 reported current cigarette use

 - In 2012, 29.9% of adults reported engaging in no aerobic leisure-time physical activity

 - Nearly 35% of U.S. adults are obese, which affects men and women of all race/ethnic groups

 - Among children 2-19 years of age, 31.8% are overweight and obese (which represents 23.9 million children)

 - Coronary artery disease alone caused roughly one of every six deaths in the United States in 2010

 - One in three U.S. adults has high blood pressure

Learn more about preventing strokes and recognizing the signs of a stroke.