DETROIT -- Headaches could be a warning sign of a serious condition -- brain aneurysms, which affect about 2 million Americans.

Women are more likely to get the condition than men. The condition is what drove actress Sharon Stone to the hospital in October 2001. Her husband rushed her to the emergency room because she was suffering with severe head pain. Doctors said they found a tiny aneurysm on Stone's brain that required no immediate treatment.

Preventive treatment is what saved Lynn Denton, 42, of Detroit. Denton has a family history of the condition, so she decided to have a brain scan -- which identified a large aneurysm.

In Denton's case, there was a fear her aneurysm could rupture, which could result in death or disability.

Traditional treatment for patients like Denton would mean brain surgery that involves removing bone, moving the brain out of the way and putting an alligator-style clip on the aneurysm to get rid of it, according to doctors.

But doctors at Harper University Hospital in Detroit are working to perfect a new procedure that allows them to do most of the work through a small opening in the leg.

Doctors make a tiny cut in the groin and thread a catheter up into the brain and into the aneurysm. Then a stent is inserted, and it coils up into the aneurysm to keep it from rupturing.

The procedure takes a couple of hours, and patients typically go home the next day.

Doctors say it's important to know the symptoms of a brain aneurysm: severe headaches, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck or neck pain, blurry or double vision and pain above or behind the eyes.

Additional Resources:

• Brain Aneurysm Foundation
• National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke