(KMOX) — A local stroke specialist says director John Singleton's death at age 51 from a stroke serves as an important reminder about the increased risk of stroke for African Americans.
Singleton was an Oscar-nominated director and the man behind the hit film Boyz n the Hood. He suffered a massive stroke twelve days ago and died Monday after his family took him off life support.
"Stroke is a common disease in almost every race but African Americans, unfortunately, have more incidence of both kinds of strokes," said Dr. Amer Alshekhlee, a vascular neurologist at SSM Health DePaul Hospital. "The common type of stroke is called an Ischemic stroke. That's when there is a blockage in the artery. And the other is when there is a break in the artery that leads to hemorrhage. That's called a hemorrhagic stroke. In both types, the African American incidence rate is higher than in Caucasians."
Dr. Alshekhlee says there are a couple of reasons why African Americans are at greater risk.
"Part of that is genetic factors. And part of that is modifiable risk factors," Dr. Alshekhlee tells KMOX. "African Americans have certain genes which make them prone to have more high blood pressure, more diabetes, putting them more at risk for ischemic stroke."
Another common modifiable risk factor is smoking.
"But African Americans are also more prone to have bleeding in the brain. This is a devastating kind of stroke when the person busts an aneurysm in the brain or they have a massive bleed."
More than 40-percent of African Americans have high blood pressure, which also develops earlier in life and is usually more severe.
"So the bottom line here is that African Americans are more likely to develop the risk factors for stroke," said Dr. Alshekhlee. "Everyone has these risk factors, it's just that African Americans are likely to have more of these risk factors." No matter what your race, Dr. Alshekhlee says everyone needs to be aware of the early warning signs of a stroke. Keep the acronym FAST in mind.
"The letter F stands for the face. When a person manifests any signs of a stroke, just ask them to smile. See if their face is twisted or drooping."
"The letter A stands for the arm. Ask the person to lift both arms. If one arm drops or drifts, that's a sign of weakness."
"The letter S stands for speech. Ask the person to make a sentence. If the sentence comes out fine, that's good. But if it is slurred or missing words, that's a sign of stroke."
"And the letter T stands for telephone. Call 911 right away if you see any of those symptoms," said Dr. Alshekhlee.
Other symptoms include a loss of balance, a loss of vision or a massive headache.