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Stroke: The more intention about risk, the more proper prevention | Part 4
12 July, 2023
Confident and proactive before a stroke. All you need to know for adequate care and prevention. Don’t let a lack of information threaten your heart health. Check out this article for more details on the causes, symptoms, prevention and improvement of your health.
This often has no apparent symptoms, and you usually do not feel ill. Lowering blood pressure can help to reduce the risk of stroke.
High blood pressure can be lowered by medication. If your blood pressure is lowered and remains low, your drug dose may be reduced but rarely withdrawn completely. You must continue to check your blood pressure to ensure it doesn’t rise again. You can ask your GP or practice nurse about checking your blood pressure.
In some people, blood thinners can lessen the chance of a further stroke. These help to prevent the blood from becoming ‘sticky’ and forming clots. It would be best if you only take medicines your doctor or the hospital prescribed.
Smoking
Smoking can dramatically increase your risk of stroke. By giving up smoking completely, you can more than halve your risk of stroke.
Nicotine and tobacco smoke contain over 4000 chemicals deposited in the lungs or absorbed into the bloodstream. Some of these damage the linings of our blood vessel walls, causing them to narrow and fur. This increases the chances of a clot forming and lodging in an artery in the brain. Smoking also increases the stickiness of the blood cells called platelets, which increases the risk of blood clots forming in major arteries to the brain and heart. Smoking also increases the risk of high blood pressure, one of the main risk factors for stroke.
People who smoke are 2-3 times more likely to have a stroke than those who don’t. The more you smoke, the greater your risk. The danger starts relatively young in stroke terms.
In male and female smokers under 55, smoking appears to be a particularly prominent risk factor. Smoking is hazardous for people who have high blood pressure. They are five times more likely to have a stroke than smokers with normal blood pressure and 20 times more likely to have a stroke than non-smokers with normal blood pressure.
Passive smoking may also be hazardous. Research shows that those who live or work in a smoky atmosphere are twice as likely to have a stroke as those who don’t.
There are several methods and aids which can help you to give up, including nicotine gum and patches. Please ask a member of the team or your GP for more information and advice.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a condition caused by too much glucose in the blood. If not treated or controlled well, diabetes can increase your risk of stroke. Your GP can refer you to a dietician if you need help with your diet.
Family history
Stroke is not hereditary, but if a close family member has had a stroke, some of the risk factors may be hereditary, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
Ethnicity
People of African-Caribbean and Asian descent are more likely to have strokes than other ethnic groups. This is linked to high incidences of high blood pressure and diabetes. It is essential, therefore, to have regular health checks.
Stress
Many people think that a stroke is caused by stress. Stress does not cause a stroke, but it can affect blood pressure, contributing to stroke risk.
Alcohol
Reducing your intake of alcohol can help reduce high blood pressure, one of the contributory factors to stroke. Generally, the higher your blood pressure, the higher the risk of stroke. Avoid binge drinking (more than six units in six hours) as this can cause your blood pressure to shoot up, substantially increasing your risk of stroke. Stay within safe drinking limits, which are no more than 2-3 units a day for women and 3-4 units a day for men. One unit is half a pint of beer, a small glass of wine or a single pub measure of spirits.
Exercise
Regular gentle exercise is another effective way to reduce high blood pressure, increase fitness levels and lose weight. It is essential to start slowly and build up your level of exercise. Walking regularly each day is more beneficial than jogging for just one day a week. Brisk walking, swimming and cycling are great for circulation and maintaining a healthy weight. Please speak with a team member for more information about safe exercise.
Cholesterol and fats
The liver makes cholesterol from saturated fat in our food and is an essential component of all body cells; it is then distributed where needed. If there is a surplus, most of this is stored in the liver, and some remain in circulation in the blood. A high cholesterol level may increase the chance of a stroke or heart attack.
The terms saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated refer to the makeup of fats and oils. The body handles saturated and unsaturated fats differently. Saturated fats raise cholesterol more than unsaturated fats. A diet containing more unsaturated fat than saturated is thought to be healthier.
Saturated fats are usually hard at room temperature and are found as animal fats in meat, suet, lard, and dairy products like milk, cheese, and butter. Monounsaturated fats are usually liquid or soft at room temperature and are found in some oils, for example, olive, rapeseed or walnut oil, and in some spreads such as Bertolli. Polyunsaturated fats are found in oils like sunflower, corn or soya oil and in oily fish such as herring, mackerel and trout.
While the body needs some cholesterol, extra cholesterol may get stored in your arteries (blood vessels) and cause them to narrow over time, leaving deposits or patches on the blood vessel walls called atheroma.
Patches of the atheroma, also called plaque, are like small fatty lumps that develop on the arteries’ linings. The tendency to have narrowed blood vessels throughout the body is called atherosclerosis. Large deposits can block an artery so the blood cannot flow through. This can affect any blood vessel; a stroke can occur if it is an artery to the brain. Cholesterol travels through the blood in different types of ‘packages’ called lipoproteins. LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is so-called ‘bad’ cholesterol, delivering cholesterol to the body and creating waxy deposits on the artery walls. HDL (high-density lipoprotein) is so-called ‘good’ cholesterol as it removes cholesterol from the bloodstream. Triglycerides are the main form of fat in the blood, which, in combination with high levels of cholesterol and LDL, increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Eating a low-fat diet can help lower the LDL cholesterol. Stopping smoking, getting regular exercise and losing weight are also beneficial.
Salt
Using lots of salt can lead to high blood pressure, the most significant single risk factor for stroke, so try to avoid adding salt to food during cooking and at the table. Be aware of hidden salt in processed food and ready-prepared convenience foods, which are often very high in salt.
Weight
Being overweight and not exercising enough can lead to high blood pressure, which, in turn, can lead to stroke, so try to keep your weight at a reasonable level and take regular exercise. If you need to lose weight, consider joining a slimming club or speak to your GP about referral to a dietician. Avoid crash or fad diets, as these can damage your health. Aim to lose weight slowly, for example, 1-2 lbs weekly.
Professional consulting: ThS.BS.Dao Thi My Van
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