Stroke affects more African Americans than any other ethnic group. Black people have almost twice the risk of first-ever stroke compared with White people, and Blacks 34 to 54 years old have four times the relative risk.

To help combat ths devastating disease, Black leaders have joined the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, to launch the Power To End Stroke campaign, or POWER.

The aggressive education and awareness initiative helps African Americans to reduce their risk of stroke and encourages people to call the American Stroke Association at (888) 4-STROKE or visit Stroke Association.org/power to:

• take the stroke pledge to begin the journey to reduce their stroke risk;
• receive free information about African Americans and stroke; and to
• find out how they can become campaign ambassadors to reduce stroke in their community through the Power To End Stroke campaign.

These committed African American leaders from health care, politics, religion, the arts, and sports and entertainment, are encouraging other leaders to “Share The Power” by taking action on a grassroots level to help spread life-saving stroke messages.

Stroke is a growing health problem in the United States, with someone suffering a stroke every 45 seconds.

African Americans are at particularly high risk for stroke because of factors like high blood pressure and diabetes.

More than 100,000 African Americans have a stroke each year and many don’t know that they are at risk.

The campaign encourages African Americans to control their risks for stroke, including high blood pressure and diabetes and work with their doctors to eliminate or manage these and other risks.

“The goal of the American Stroke Association is to significantly heighten African Americans’ awareness of the serious impact of high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke. By 2010, we want every African American to know about the impact of these conditions and how to reduce risk,” said Dr. Ralph Sacco, Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology at Columbia University and Chair of the American Stroke Association Advisory Committee.

The Power To End Stroke campaign is supported nationally by the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership.