Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, after coronary heart disease and cancer. There are approximately 500,000 cases of stroke each year; of these, 150,000 are fatal.¹ Many survivors are left with mental and physical impairment and require assistance with activities of daily living. Twenty-eight percent of patients with stroke are under 65 years of age, and women account for 40 percent of the new cases.² Blacks in the United States have a rate of mortality due to stroke roughly twice that of whites.³ There are over 3 million patients with stroke alive in the . . .