Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke, and in 2010 South Carolina had the sixth largest number of strokes in the country, in part because of its particularly high incidence of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and smoking. In addition, African Americans tend to have more debilitating strokes, and have them earlier in life, than other groups – likely because one in three African Americans suffers from high blood pressure, the number one risk factor for stroke. Given statistics like that, treating stroke in South Carolina is essential.