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Caitlin Whyte (Host): Did you know, 80% of strokes are preventable. Today, we're taking some of the most Googled questions about stroke and getting expert answers from Dr. Ameen, NEMA, AGA Abraham, or Dr. Nima for short and interventional neurologist and the primary stroke director at Baptist health stroke and cerebrovascular center in Jacksonville, Florida.

This is Baptist health radio. As the most preferred healthcare provider in Northeast Florida, we are here to help you stay informed with the latest news views and resources for your health and wellbeing. So myth number one, doctor strokes are the same for men.

Amin Nima Aghaebrahim, MD (Guest): That is actually not true because his stroke is not the same for male and female.

Actually, stroke is more common in men. But when it happens in female, there are more severe. We don't know the exact reason for that, but there are few propose reasons such as hormonal changes or estrogen exposure. But I think at the end of the day, it will be a combination of things, including the cardiovascular risk factor, which is smoking hypertension and high cholesterol, which may be a bit higher in men than women.

Strokes, which is two types of skinny or hemorrhagic. When we talk about subretinal hemorrhage, which is a bleeding, that's actually more common in female population. So no, that is not true. It's part of what Dr. Google says, but stroke is different between men and women.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): Myth. Number two is strokes are not preventable.

Amin Nima Aghaebrahim, MD (Guest): Yeah, that's definitely false. It's very important to know that the stroke is preventable. To prevent a stroke. First, we have to know the types of stroke and the risks that cause or contribute to stroke. There are many causes of stroke, but the typical cardiovascular risk factor such as high blood pressure, diabetes smoking, poor lifestyle, including lack of exercise.

And also some other causes such as all these can lead to hardening of blood vessels and that can lead to a stroke. There are also other cause of stroke, such as a fit, for example, which is preventable. Why? Because if somebody has a fib, then they could have blood clots in their heart formation. So how do you prevent that?

Well, if you detect aphid in certain populations, then we put them on a blood thinner. And that could prevent a stroke from happening. So definitely not true and is very important for everybody to know their risk factors and worked on those risk factors to prevent a stroke from happening

Caitlin Whyte (Host): Onto myth number three, here, strokes usually happen in the shower.

Amin Nima Aghaebrahim, MD (Guest): That is very interesting. I have to tell you, I haven't actually heard that one before. Yeah. I'm trying to think hard about a possible mechanism or any explanation. Uh, the only thing I can say is I think the voice gets better or seems better when you sing in the shower.

However, I do not know of any reason or truth about. More stroke happening in the shower. So I would say that's definitely false to my knowledge. So by all means, please, by all means, please showered at does not mean that you're showering have a stroke. So strokes aren't any more common in the shower, but definitely still take their showers.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): Got it. And onto our last myth here, here's what I actually grew up hearing from my parents. Smelling burnt toast is a symptom of stroke.

Amin Nima Aghaebrahim, MD (Guest): Yeah, that's actually interesting. That is not a very common thing. And this is not a typical. Signed that we talk about smelling a burn toast is very specific, but let's talk about like having a weird smell, very, very rare circumstances where a different smell can be a predisposition to, for example, seizure, that could be like that aura that could lead to activity in part of the brain.

That again, very, very specific that could lead to a seizure, but that's very rare. So. I do not believe that smelling a burned toast is a sign of a stroke. I would say that the typical sign of a stroke is what we talk about, which is be fast. So for example, balance problem, difficulty seeing. Or droopiness or weakness on one side of the body, the fast component, those are the go sign of a stroke.

So if you suspect somebody had a stroke, basically tell them to smile. If their faces weak on one side, or if tell them to hold your arms up. And if one group's down or cannot lift up one arm, those are the typical signs of stroke, where sometimes you can tell them to say something and if they cannot speak quickly, that's a sign of a stroke, but not really a burnt toast.

As far as I know. Gotcha.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): Well, I'll miss aside. Is there anything else you'd like to let people know just about strokes in general? It sounds like there is some misinformation out there.

Amin Nima Aghaebrahim, MD (Guest): Yeah, no, it was very interesting. There are. So I would say that everybody should know that the stroke is an emergency.

So if a stroke happens very important to call nine one, one faster stroke is recognized and seeded a better outcome for the patient. And the stroke is number one cause of disability. It is very important to know that you can prevent stroke by a healthy lifestyle, knowing your risk factors of them stroke happened call nine 11 because thankfully, nowadays we have treatment available for stroke and the symptoms of stroke can be reversed in certain situations.

It's very important to call nine 11 and go to the appropriate hospital for treatment.

Caitlin Whyte (Host): Well, thank you for your time doctor. It is so important to know fact from fiction these days. To learn the real signs and symptoms of stroke. Visit Baptist jax.com/stroke. And remember like Dr. Nima said, stroke is an emergency.

If you notice yourself or a loved one, showing any symptoms of stroke, call nine one one immediately. This has been Baptist health radio. I'm Katelyn white stay well.