About 795,000 Americans each year suffer a new or recurrent stroke. That means, on average, a stroke occurs every 40 seconds.
Stroke kills more than 137,000 people a year. That's about 1 of every 18 deaths. It's the No. 4 cause of death.
On average, every 4 minutes someone dies of stroke.
About 40 percent of stroke deaths occur in males, and 60 percent in females.
The 2006 stroke death rates per 100,000 population for specific groups were 41.7 for white males, 41.1 for white females, 67.7 for black males and 57.0 for black females.
Americans will pay about $73.7 billion in 2010 for stroke-related medical costs and disability.
For more statistics about stroke, see our latest update on Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics.
Our fact sheets on stroke treatments, prevention, warning signs and recovering provide helpful information. Print them out and fill in questions to ask your doctor.
