J I m scared to death of stroke. It seems so<br >t incapacitating. Everyone I know who has<br > had a stroke has never been the same again.<br > Is this always the case?<br > There is no question， stroke can be devastating<br >) ---in fact， it kills approximately 30 percent of its<br >is. And stroke s physical effects--primarily paralysis<br >ne resulting dependence--are widely feared. In fact.<br >ajori~y of people interviewed in a 1994 sur~ev indi-<br >~hat ~hev wotJld prefer death to severe physical dis-<br >， as a consequence of stroke {StroL;e， September 199.4 i<br > ，)he widely held image of a comatose or wheelchair-<br >i individual suddenly deprived ola normal lifestyle<br > one paI-I o t a tr~orc cofflD llcated DiCe， tire. "11 is lrtR <br >~vokc can ~x: scverc(y disa6(/ng; it caa rob a person<br >s mdcpcndc;~cc， af(ccl his abilities to fi~mk， speak，<br >~ write or underst:md spoken languagc， or change his<br >tvior. In other word~ stroke ca~ a)~d does chamac the<br >:)f fl~c person it ;ffik. cts But sm)kc s cff~:cts :ire .zJ{~{<br >ivs disabling， nor arc tbcv alv， a，~ F，c: a~a)"~em S<，m.c-<br >kcs produce little or no disal~iing c|fccts wh~h: ~ her:，<br >duct serious effects tha) i~!)r(wc w i{ E ~im(: h~ ，， ~r i~cr<br >7{Is， there is no standard pro~，.nc， s;s b.)r svrokc <~ r ，i~ "，r~<br >