Palliative care, an approach to care that helps people manage pain and other symptoms during all stages of a serious illness (not just at end of life), can help improve quality of life for stroke survivors as well as their family members, according to "Palliative and End-of-Life Care in Stroke," a new scientific statement published today in the Association's peer-reviewed scientific journal Stroke . Stroke is often thought of as an event that is over quickly, but that is not true. Even though the majority of strokes are not immediately life-threatening, every stroke is life-altering, and every stroke requires high-quality, person-centered care.
Integrating palliative care principles into stroke care is fundamental for all patients and at every stage after a stroke." Claire J. Creutzfeldt, M.
D., chair of the writing group and associate professor of neurology at the University of Washington, Seattle A stroke occurs when a blood vessel to the brain is either blocked by a clot or ruptures, interrupting blood flow and causing brain cells to die. A stroke can be disabling and often deadly.
According to the Association's 2024 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, around 800,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke every year, and about 160,000 people die as a result, making stroke the 5 th leading cause of death in the country.
It is also a leading cause of adult disability in the U.S. Advances in stroke treatment have led to an increasing number of stroke survivors who often experience .
