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WHEREAS, American Stroke Association is celebrating May 2006 as American Stroke Month in Pennsylvania. The theme for American Stroke Month 2006 is "Power to End Stroke" an aggressive education and awareness campaign to reach African Americans, who are at particularly high risk of stroke, with empowering information to help reduce their risk; and
WHEREAS, strokes are the third leading cause of death in the United States with about 700,000 and a leading cause of severe, long term disability. More than 100,000 African Americans have a new or recurrent stroke every year; and
WHEREAS, on average a stroke occurs every 45 seconds in the United States and someone dies of a stroke every 3 minutes. In 2006 the estimated direct and indirect cost of stroke will be about $57.9 billion dollars and the majority of Americans are not aware of their risk factors for a stroke, nor are they aware of the signs and symptoms of an impending stroke; and
WHEREAS, warning signs of stroke include: sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination; and sudden severe headache with no known cause; and
WHEREAS, stroke leads to the death of more than 25,000 citizens of Pennsylvania each year; and new and effective treatments have been developed to treat and minimize the severity and damaging effects of strokes, but much more research is needed.
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NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh, does hereby recognize and commend the American Stroke Month for their continued efforts to urge all the citizens of our state to familiarize themselves with the warning signs, symptoms, and risk factors associated with stroke so that we might begin to reduce the devastating effects that a stroke makes on our population.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council in the City of Pittsburgh does hereby proclaim the month of May 2006, as American Stroke Month.