A Rationale for Lesser Pressure: A Program to Enhance the Health of Independently Living Seniors of Chicago, Illinois

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A Rationale for “Lesser Pressure”: A Program to Enhance the Health of Independently Living Seniors of Chicago, Illinois.
A stroke or a brain attack or a cerebrovascular attack is one of the most devastating neurological conditions that causes death or physical disability. Stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted causing the death of affected brain cells within minutes (Medline Plus, 2014). Because of the urgent nature of the disease, stroke is the second leading cause of death in the world which has caused almost 6.2 million deaths during the year 2011 worldwide (World Health Organization [WHO], 2013). Additionally, stroke is the fourth leading cause of death and first leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States which has caused almost 1.3 million deaths during the year 2011(Centers for Disease Control & Prevention [CDC], 2013a). On average, almost 7.9 million people have a stroke each year in the United States out of which 6.1 million are first or new strokes (CDC, 2013). The effects of stroke are so devastating that about 25% die at the time of stroke or soon after and about 15 to 30% become permanently disabled (CDC, 2013). Therefore, the total annual burden of stroke in the United States is about $38.6 billion (CDC, 2013).
In addition to economic burden, stroke causes damage to physical health, cognitive health and routine lifestyle of independently living seniors. Depending on the duration and severity of stroke, a person’s physical health is affected. Visual disturbances, abnormal and more frequent episodes of seizures, incontinence and paralysis are some of the physical damages of a brain attack that doesn’t result in death (National Stroke Association [NSA], 2012). Since our ta...

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...ducating independently living seniors to control and monitor their blood pressure in order to reduce incidence of stroke prevention in Chicago, Illinois.

Reference
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). (July, 2013). Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/programs/stroke_registry.htm
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). (December, 2013a). Leading Causes of Death. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). (No Date). Million Hearts: Controlling Hypertension and High Cholesterol-An Overview. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/primarycare/materials/millionhearts/docs/million_hearts_success_stories_508.pdf
Gillespie, C. Hurvitz, K. (November, 2013). Prevalence of Hypertension and Controlled Hypertension – United States, 2007-2010.

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