diet, do you smoke, do you drink. alcohol can contribute, smoking a risk factor. if you have diabetes, any underlying blood vessel disease. there s a small genetic component that is a part of it. we don t know his family history, obviously hippa violations. but he could have been born with a genetic defense in his heart making it a higher risk of stroke and stronger complications. what about the rest of us? what are we looking for for stroke symptoms and so forth? maybe smaller strokes. what are we looking for? a great question, trace. 150,000 people die every year from a stroke. so it s easy to remember. if you can remember the word fast. facial dropping, arm weakness, slurred speech, any of those three things happen, call 911. the main thing we see is facial drooping, slurred speech and