How can this be avoided? Should a doctor do an intensive search to check on this unpredictable situation that can happen to anyone in seemingly good health? Is a body scan or X-ray the proper checkup?

A:  In autopsies, about 3% to 4% of the population have aneurysms, or weaknesses, in a blood vessel in the brain. Most of the time they don't burst or cause problems; there are about 30,000 cases a year of bleeding. People usually have no symptoms at all until they bleed, at which time they may complain of an excruciating headache or just lose consciousness.

I still remember one of my best friends, Susie, who left school one afternoon in 7th grade because she had a bad headache. She lay down to rest and died in her bed that night.

If an aneurysm is suspected, a magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) of the brain can be done. As unpredictable and deadly as this condition is (about 50% of people will die), it doesn't make sense to scan everyone's brain.