According to the American Heart Association, if you have suffered from a heart attack, the odds of having a stroke are up to 44 times higher than normal.

Previous studies have linked heart failure to increased stroke risk, but now new evidence claims that often symptom-less impaired heart function may be an independent risk for ischemic stroke.

Neurologist Harris Bonnette M.D. says "By far 80-85% is ischemic stroke, now ischemic, means lack of blood flow, you can look at ischemic stroke very similar to heart attack, except one involved the heart and the other involves the brain."

L-V-D or left ventricular dysfunction is when the heart fails to pump blood as effectively as a normal functioning heart. Having any degree of LVD is five times more common in stroke patients-so this raises the question of whether LVD should be included in the evaluation of a patient's stroke risk. "In almost 100% of people, in addition to looking at the vessels going to the brain, we frequently or shall I say always, look at the heart as well."

If you witness a friend or family member having a stroke don't panic. There are things you can do on the scene to help in an emergency. "The best advice is to make sure they're comfortable as best we can to make sure their airway is open just to try to make comfortable. In today's time emergency medical services are readily available in a very short period of time," advises Dr. Bonnette.

So just remember using a cool head can help a heart. For more information on aiding strokes or stroke risk visit www.stroke association.org