"What is a stroke? ... how common is it? It is the leading cause of serious disability of adults in the United States. It is the fifth leading cause of deaths in the United States. Moreover, it is the second leading cause of deaths worldwide ... it is characterized by injury to the brain from or rupture of a . There are two broad types of stroke. The first is blockage of a blood vessel — that accounts for eighty percent of strokes ... And there's , which accounts for twenty percent ... due to rupture of a blood vessel."