May is national stroke awareness month.

Pauline Howell is a busy businesswoman but she makes time almost every day to walk so she can stay fit in hopes that history won't repeat itself. "Family history on my mother's side is lots of strokes, all of uncles and aunts died of a stroke and my mother's in a nursing home today because of a stroke," says Pauline.

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain bursts or is blocked by a blood clot. Vascular problems in other areas of your body may indicate a need to check blood flow in the neck and head.

Cardiologist Dr. Brian Arcement says, "Any patient that has never had their carotids looked at that has disease in any of their arterial distribution, their legs, kidneys, heart, should also have their neck arteries looked at as a screening process to determine if they are significant."

If you happen to have arterial blockages in your neck of 70% or more chances are you will be referred to a vascular physician who will then determine whether or not surgery will have to be performed. "And that's where the surgeon goes in, opens the artery up, cleans out the artery, and then puts a patch over it basically getting rid of all the plaque within the vessel. And this can tremendously reduce the chance of this patient having a stroke in the future," explains Dr. Arcement.

Symptoms of a stroke are numbness, vision problems, confusion, dizziness and severe headache.

If you are having stroke symptoms, the sooner you get treatment the better your chances will be for minimal damage to your brain cells. Because most strokes do not cause severe pain, patients often delay seeking treatment, resulting in extensive brain tissue damage. It's important to realize that a stroke is a medical emergency that requires immediate medical attention.