WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate on Thursday evening approved a resolution authored by U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., declaring May 6, 2006, Childhood Stroke Awareness Day.

“Very little is known about the cause, treatment and prevention of childhood stroke, but with increased awareness, hopefully more research will be conducted and we will be able to treat and perhaps prevent childhood strokes. It was a privilege to work with the Pediatric Stroke Network as well as a young man from Norcross, Alan Blinder, on this resolution.”

“One day in Algebra class, Alan experienced four of the five major signs of a stroke, but because of his young age, the symptoms were dismissed as something less serious. Fortunately, in his case, Alan was able to recover and lives a normal teenage life, but many childhood strokes are misdiagnosed and children go on to suffer from other serious health problems as a result. I hope that through this resolution we can continue to raise awareness,” Chambliss added.

The Pediatric Stroke Network has been working to increase support for young stroke survivors and their families and raise awareness of the occurrence of strokes in young children. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, stroke is one of the top reasons for childhood mortality and occurs in 25 out of 100,000 children. Many of these children who suffer from a stroke will suffer from concurrent strokes, seizures and other neurological problems that may follow them through their adult years.

The lack of knowledge of childhood strokes makes it difficult to diagnose. Through raising awareness, parents and doctors will learn to recognize the warning signs of stroke, and doctors will increase their odds of giving proper treatment. More research is necessary for medical researchers to develop new stroke treatments for children.

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