Posts Tagged ‘ Stroke ’

Stroke and Stroke Risk: 5 Things You Should Know

September 8, 2010
By

Each year in the United States, strokes affect almost 900,000 people and their families. Among those who survive a stroke, the effects can be devastating and debilitating. Many risk factors contribute to your chances of suffering one. Arming yourself with knowledge about strokes may allow you to prevent one from happening to you. Read on to learn about stroke and stroke risk: 5 things you should know.

Strokes are the third leading cause of death each year in the U.S.

Only cancer and heart disease kill more people in the U.S. each year than do strokes. If you are lucky enough to survive a stroke, you may be debilitated to the point that you can no longer work or care for yourself, straining your finances as well as the emotional health of you and your family as you deal with the effects.

Stroke can make your life harder

Thy physical effects of a stroke can make your life much more difficult. After a stroke, many people have issues with mobility, often requiring full-time nursing care and wheelchairs for transportation. Paralysis, even if on only one side of the body, can make tying shoes, bathing, eating, and dressing without assistance difficult, if not impossible. Problems with vision or speaking, cognitive problems, sexual dysfunction, and incontinence are also common.

You can not control some risk factors

Some risk factors are beyond your control. If an immediate family member has ever had a stroke, your risk is increased. Men are also more likely to have a stroke, although women die more often from them. Those in the geographical southeast have a higher prevalence of stroke, as do African Americans and those suffering from diabetes. Also, with each decade after the age of 55, your chances for a stroke double.

You can control some risk factors

The good news is that you can control some of the risks that often lead to strokes. Living a healthy lifestyle is crucial. Do not smoke cigarettes, and if you do, quit. Limit your alcohol intake to one per day for women and two per day for men. Get off the couch and get some exercise each day. Even 30 minutes of exercise per day is beneficial. If you are obese, lose weight. Choose to eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and healthy fats from nuts or olive oil, limiting red meat, animal based fats, and fried foods. If your blood cholesterol or blood pressure is high, see your physician for medications that will control the problem.

Preventive screening can reduce your risk

More than half of all people who suffer from a stroke had no symptoms beforehand. Occasionally, a person will have mini-strokes, called transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), before undergoing a larger, more devastating stroke. If you have temporary problems with a severe headache, blurred vision, numbness or tingling on one side of the body, dizziness, loss of balance, difficulty talking or understanding speech, you may be having a TIA.

Because most strokes are symptomless, though, preventive screening is crucial and can save your life. Mobile screening companies now make the process quick, easy, and convenient. Many set up screenings in local gyms, churches, or community centers. At the screening, a skilled sonographer performs an ultrasound of the carotid arteries, a process that is painless and is the best indicator of stroke and heart disease.

For more information on stroke, stroke risks, and preventive screening, visit http://www.HealthYes.com/.

Stroke

June 27, 2010
By

The World Health Organization has identified stroke as the third major killer disease of humans. More than 150,000 Americans die of stroke each year – a full one-third of all those who suffer stroke. Another 150,000 will be left with a severe disability that is permanent and affects their ability to enjoy their optimum life.

A stroke is an alteration in the brain, in which you are aware of that alteration and your diminished capabilities. As frightening as the varieties of cancer, stroke also comes in varieties with various accompanying results. An aneurysm is a spontaneous hemorrhage rupture due to a weakness in a part of the artery wall in the brain, and are very deadly, coming without warning and killing half of their victims.

A hemorrhage caused by the rupture of small blood vessels in the brain is most often related to the long-term debilitating effects of high blood pressure, and is found moreso in people over age 50. When it occurs, the build up of blood in the brain causes pressure inside the skull, which can lead to damage, loss of function, mental confusion, and even unconsciousness.

A stroke occurs when a part of the brain is deprived of the constant supply of blood that it requires to function. Blocking blood flow to the brain results in damage to nerve cells, which in turn die and cannot grow back. Men and women experience strokes in nearly even numbers, with some variance due to age.

There are important risk factors for stroke. Let’s take a look.

High blood pressure: Causes your blood vessels to degenerate, and is the most important risk factor in the cause of stroke. It can be directly attributed to lifestyle choices.

High total cholesterol: Clogs your arteries and slows your blood flow; it can be caused by heredity or from consuming too many foods high in saturated fats.

Physical inactivity: Increases risk of stroke by 50%, according to the WHO. Physical activity gets the blood pumping, and is one factor in controlling weight, blood pressure, and risk of other diseases.

What does the WHO recommend that anyone do in order to reduce their risk for stroke?

Move: Physical activity at a moderate level on most days of the week reduces your risk for stroke. Get a pedometer and start walking at the very minimum!

Overload your plate: With fruits and vegetables. You can’t have too many fruits or vegetables, which help to fill you with fiber, control weight, and provide vital nutrients to all of your body.

Wise fats: Avoid saturated fats like the plague that they are. Reach for unsaturated fats such as canola, safflower, and olive oils, as well as the good oils found in nuts and seeds. Use all oils sparingly.

Regular check ups: You take your car in for oil changes and check ups, so it is only right that you take even better care of your most important asset: your health. Seeing your physician on a regular basis to get an assessment of where you are with your cholesterol and blood pressure, then following all advice accordingly can greatly reduce your risk of stroke, as it can give you guidelines and a map of yourself to work from.

The news does not have to be all grim and dire, when we can take measures to help reduce our risk factors for debilitating and/or deadly diseases such as stroke. It is better to start today, while we may still have the opportunity to do so, rather than look back at today, if even given the opportunity, and wishing we had taken the initiative to take the best care of ourselves possible.

No one can care more about your health and well-being than you do, so take as good a care of your body as you would the welfare of your family. Whole foods nutrition is one of the greatest preventative weapons in your personal arsenal for combatting the diseases that would rob you of the most optimum health and the best life you can achieve. What are monetary wealth and fame without health? Realize that the greatest wealth possible is found in good health, because once gone, it is not always an option to buy back.

Choose vibrant and optimum health, because you deserve it.

Debra Augur has studied holistic nutrition for years, put that knowledge into practice, and has a passion to share that knowledge with others who are seeking their own best health. If we are what we eat, are we denatured, devitalized, deficient and potentially toxic? Visit http://www.eat-well-to-be-well.com to learn more, and begin acquiring your healthiest self.

Am I in Danger of Having a Stroke?

June 3, 2010
By

Stroke is the third leading cause of death each year in the United States, affecting about 795,000 people and killing about 144,000 of those. Strokes are also the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. While some stroke risk factors can be controlled, others cannot. Have you ever wondered, “Am I in danger of having a stroke?”

Uncontrollable Factors

Age

With each decade after the age of 55, your chances for having a stroke double. However, while strokes are most common in those over 65, they can affect people of any age.

Gender

While strokes are more common in men, more than half of all stroke deaths in a given year occur in women. Use of birth control pills and pregnancy increase the risks for women.

Family History and Race

If one of your immediate family members has ever had a stroke, your risk is increased. Additionally, African Americans have a greater chance of dying from a stroke than Caucasians, due to an increased prevalence of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.

Controllable Factors

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is the most controllable risk factor, as well as the most important one, because it is the leading cause of strokes. Some believe that a decline in stroke deaths in recent years may be due to the availability of more effective medications for controlling the condition.

Cigarette Smoking

The nicotine and carbon monoxide found in cigarette smoke damage the cardiovascular system in many ways. When combined with birth control pills, the danger rises.

Diabetes Mellitus

While diabetes can be controlled, the presence of the disease increases your risk for stroke. Additionally, many people with diabetes are overweight and have high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, which increases the risk.

High Blood Cholesterol

High blood cholesterol increases your chance for stroke. Additionally, low levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, may also be a risk factor. Medications and changes in diet can help treat this condition.

Obesity and Physical Inactivity

Unfortunately, either one or both can increase your risk for stroke, as well as increasing your risk for high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes. Even 30 minutes of activity each day, combined with a healthy diet low in saturated fats, trans fats, salt, and cholesterol, can lead to better health.

Lesser Known Risks

Interestingly, geographic location can predict your chance of stroke. Because strokes are so much more common in the southeastern United States, the area is sometimes referred to as the stroke belt.

Alcohol abuse can lead to stroke. If you are a man who consumes more than two drinks daily or a woman who consumes more than one, your risk is increased.

Socioeconomic status may also affect your risk. Strokes are more common among low-income people than those who are affluent, perhaps in part to reduced availability of health care.

Drug abuse may account for many strokes seen in younger victims. Cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin all increase your risk for stroke.

Almost 90 percent of all strokes happen because of clots that block the arteries in the brain. The leading cause of these clots is carotid artery disease, a condition where plaque accumulates in the arteries supplying blood to the neck and brain. When this plaque breaks loose and travels to smaller arteries in the brain, a stroke occurs.

Unfortunately, more than half of all stroke victims exhibit no symptoms beforehand. However, easy, non-invasive tests using color Doppler ultrasound can identify your risk. By detecting the problem early, up to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented.

Women And Heart Disease Or Stroke – 5 Risk Factors That Can Be Modified Or Treated

May 21, 2010
By

Let’s face it as a society we really don’t take the idea of women and heart disease all that seriously. After all isn’t a heart attack or stroke only something men have to worry about? Doesn’t estrogen protect women from this silent killer? Isn’t cancer a bigger threat to women than heart disease? All of these question seem logical but the fact of the matter is none of them are true. The truth about women and heart disease or stroke is that in America twice as many women die of these two cardiovascular disorders than from all forms of cancer, including breast cancer.

So identifying the possible factors that increase the chances of a women having a heart attack or stroke should to be identified, and either modified or eliminated. Let’s take a few minutes to run through five risk factors that can be modified, treated or managed wit h lifestyle modification and/or medication if needed.

When it comes to women and heart disease smoking is not cool.

While you can’t change your family history, gender, the aging process, or a previous history of heart attack or stroke you can certainly say no to tobacco. Women who smoke, or for that matter inhale large amounts of second hand smoke, are at increased risk for ischemic stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage. Studies show birth control pills only make matters worse, increasing a smokers risk of cardiovascular disease substantially.

High blood cholesterol is not good for your heart.

Up until the age of 55 women have some natural protection against arterial plaque deposits but after that it is all downhill, with men and women having virtually identical chances of dying of a heart attack by the age of 62. High levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) raise the risk of heart attack. High levels of good cholesterol (HDL) lower the risk of heart disease. Research seems to suggest that low levels of good cholesterol seems to a stronger risk factor in women than men.

Be aware to the risks of high blood pressure

High blood pressure in women increases their chances of having a heart attack. But perhaps more importantly it is the most important risk factor for stroke. Obesity, a family history of high blood pressure, pregnancy, and certain types of birth control pills are the biggest threats to a woman developing high blood pressure. It is also important to point out that African American women are the highest risk demographic.

Inactivity will literally kill you.

Heart disease is twice as likely to occur in those who are inactive than those who stay active. Being inactive can also lead to weight gain which in turn leads to high blood cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, diabetes, and an increased risk of heart attack. A recent study showed that 38 percent of heart attack victims were inactive or underactive.

Obesity and being overweight were great in 16 century.

Yes, what a difference a few centuries can make! Today we know that having too much fat, especially when is causes an expanding waistline, puts a women at risk for many health problems including high cholesterol, high triglycerides, diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

In summary, women and heart disease and stoke is a serious problem but by taking steps to stay active, consuming a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol, and saying no to tobacco you can greatly reduce your chances of become a heart attack or stroke victim. Additionally, many women have found that by adding a natural cholesterol reduction supplement to the three steps above they have been able to decrease certain risk factors even further.

By: R.D. Hawkins

R.D. is an enthusiastic advocate for the use of natural health products and natural living with over 10 years
experience in the field.
Learn more about natural remedies and natural health at
Purchase Remedies.com

Am I in Danger of Having a Stroke?

May 14, 2010
By

Stroke is the third leading cause of death each year in the United States, affecting about 795,000 people and killing about 144,000 of those. Strokes are also the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. While some stroke risk factors can be controlled, others cannot. Have you ever wondered, “Am I in danger of having a stroke?”

Uncontrollable Factors

Age

With each decade after the age of 55, your chances for having a stroke double. However, while strokes are most common in those over 65, they can affect people of any age.

Gender

While strokes are more common in men, more than half of all stroke deaths in a given year occur in women. Use of birth control pills and pregnancy increase the risks for women.

Family History and Race

If one of your immediate family members has ever had a stroke, your risk is increased. Additionally, African Americans have a greater chance of dying from a stroke than Caucasians, due to an increased prevalence of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.

Controllable Factors

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is the most controllable risk factor, as well as the most important one, because it is the leading cause of strokes. Some believe that a decline in stroke deaths in recent years may be due to the availability of more effective medications for controlling the condition.

Cigarette Smoking

The nicotine and carbon monoxide found in cigarette smoke damage the cardiovascular system in many ways. When combined with birth control pills, the danger rises.

Diabetes Mellitus

While diabetes can be controlled, the presence of the disease increases your risk for stroke. Additionally, many people with diabetes are overweight and have high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, which increases the risk.

High Blood Cholesterol

High blood cholesterol increases your chance for stroke. Additionally, low levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, may also be a risk factor. Medications and changes in diet can help treat this condition.

Obesity and Physical Inactivity

Unfortunately, either one or both can increase your risk for stroke, as well as increasing your risk for high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes. Even 30 minutes of activity each day, combined with a healthy diet low in saturated fats, trans fats, salt, and cholesterol, can lead to better health.

Lesser Known Risks

Interestingly, geographic location can predict your chance of stroke. Because strokes are so much more common in the southeastern United States, the area is sometimes referred to as the stroke belt.

Alcohol abuse can lead to stroke. If you are a man who consumes more than two drinks daily or a woman who consumes more than one, your risk is increased.

Socioeconomic status may also affect your risk. Strokes are more common among low-income people than those who are affluent, perhaps in part to reduced availability of health care.

Drug abuse may account for many strokes seen in younger victims. Cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin all increase your risk for stroke.

Almost 90 percent of all strokes happen because of clots that block the arteries in the brain. The leading cause of these clots is carotid artery disease, a condition where plaque accumulates in the arteries supplying blood to the neck and brain. When this plaque breaks loose and travels to smaller arteries in the brain, a stroke occurs.

Unfortunately, more than half of all stroke victims exhibit no symptoms beforehand. However, easy, non-invasive tests using color Doppler ultrasound can identify your risk. By detecting the problem early, up to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented.

Am I in Danger of Having a Stroke?

May 13, 2010
By

Stroke is the third leading cause of death each year in the United States, affecting about 795,000 people and killing about 144,000 of those. Strokes are also the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. While some stroke risk factors can be controlled, others cannot. Have you ever wondered, “Am I in danger of having a stroke?”

Uncontrollable Factors

Age

With each decade after the age of 55, your chances for having a stroke double. However, while strokes are most common in those over 65, they can affect people of any age.

Gender

While strokes are more common in men, more than half of all stroke deaths in a given year occur in women. Use of birth control pills and pregnancy increase the risks for women.

Family History and Race

If one of your immediate family members has ever had a stroke, your risk is increased. Additionally, African Americans have a greater chance of dying from a stroke than Caucasians, due to an increased prevalence of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.

Controllable Factors

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is the most controllable risk factor, as well as the most important one, because it is the leading cause of strokes. Some believe that a decline in stroke deaths in recent years may be due to the availability of more effective medications for controlling the condition.

Cigarette Smoking

The nicotine and carbon monoxide found in cigarette smoke damage the cardiovascular system in many ways. When combined with birth control pills, the danger rises.

Diabetes Mellitus

While diabetes can be controlled, the presence of the disease increases your risk for stroke. Additionally, many people with diabetes are overweight and have high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, which increases the risk.

High Blood Cholesterol

High blood cholesterol increases your chance for stroke. Additionally, low levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, may also be a risk factor. Medications and changes in diet can help treat this condition.

Obesity and Physical Inactivity

Unfortunately, either one or both can increase your risk for stroke, as well as increasing your risk for high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes. Even 30 minutes of activity each day, combined with a healthy diet low in saturated fats, trans fats, salt, and cholesterol, can lead to better health.

Lesser Known Risks

Interestingly, geographic location can predict your chance of stroke. Because strokes are so much more common in the southeastern United States, the area is sometimes referred to as the stroke belt.

Alcohol abuse can lead to stroke. If you are a man who consumes more than two drinks daily or a woman who consumes more than one, your risk is increased.

Socioeconomic status may also affect your risk. Strokes are more common among low-income people than those who are affluent, perhaps in part to reduced availability of health care.

Drug abuse may account for many strokes seen in younger victims. Cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin all increase your risk for stroke.

Almost 90 percent of all strokes happen because of clots that block the arteries in the brain. The leading cause of these clots is carotid artery disease, a condition where plaque accumulates in the arteries supplying blood to the neck and brain. When this plaque breaks loose and travels to smaller arteries in the brain, a stroke occurs.

Unfortunately, more than half of all stroke victims exhibit no symptoms beforehand. However, easy, non-invasive tests using color Doppler ultrasound can identify your risk. By detecting the problem early, up to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented.

What is a Stroke?

May 10, 2010
By

Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or stroke occurs when a clot blocks an artery (a blood vessel that carries blood from the heart to the body) or a blood vessel (a tube that passes through the blood to the body) breaks, interrupting blood flow to a region of the brain. If any of these things happens, brain cells begin to die and brain damage occurs.

When brain cells die during a stroke, the capacity of the region of the brain are lost. These abilities include speech, movement and memory. How a stroke patient is affected depends on where the stroke occurs in the brain and to what extent the brain is damaged.

What causes a stroke?

The artery blockage in the brain by a blood clot (is called thrombus) is the main cause of stroke. The part of the brain that is full by the clotted blood vessel is then deprived of oxygen and blood. As a result of the deprived oxygen and blood, the cells of that part of the brain die. In general, a clot in small blood vessels of the brain has been reduced by several factors, including:

1. High blood pressure (hypertension),

2. High cholesterol,

3. Diabetes

4. Smoking

What Are the Types of Stroke?

Embolic stroke

Embolic stroke may be occur when a blood clot or a piece of plaque (deposits of cholesterol and calcium in the inner wall of the arteries of the heart or unleashed), travels through open arteries, and present in an artery in the brain. If this happens, the flow of oxygen through blood to the brain is blocked and stroke occurs. This type of attack is called embolism. For example, a blood clot might originally in the abdomen after irregular heart rhythm, form, as in cases of atrial fibrillation. Generally, these clots remain attached to the inner wall of our heart, but sometimes it can break off, travel through the bloodstream, forming a plug (embolism) in an artery in the brain and cause stroke. An embolism can also come from one of the great arteries (eg carotid artery, a major artery of the neck providing blood to the brain), then downstream to clog a small artery in our brain.

Cerebral hemorrhage

A cerebral hemorrhage is another type of stroke, which occurs when a blood vessel in the brain rupture and bleeds into the surrounding tissue of our brain. A cerebral hemorrhage (bleeding inside the brain) can cause stroke by the extraction of blood and oxygen to parts of the brain.

Vasculitis

Another rare cause of stroke is vasculitis, a disease in which inflammation of blood vessels.

Migraine headache:

It seems a very small increase in the incidence of stroke in patients with migraine. The mechanism for the treatment of migraine or vascular headaches includes constriction of blood vessels in the brain. Some episodes of migraine can mimic the same stroke with loss of function on one side or edge of vision or speech problems. In general, the symptoms such as headache disappear.

Stroke and Stroke Risk: 5 Things You Should Know

May 9, 2010
By

Each year in the United States, strokes affect almost 900,000 people and their families. Among those who survive a stroke, the effects can be devastating and debilitating. Many risk factors contribute to your chances of suffering one. Arming yourself with knowledge about strokes may allow you to prevent one from happening to you. Read on to learn about stroke and stroke risk: 5 things you should know.

Strokes are the third leading cause of death each year in the U.S.

Only cancer and heart disease kill more people in the U.S. each year than do strokes. If you are lucky enough to survive a stroke, you may be debilitated to the point that you can no longer work or care for yourself, straining your finances as well as the emotional health of you and your family as you deal with the effects.

Stroke can make your life harder

Thy physical effects of a stroke can make your life much more difficult. After a stroke, many people have issues with mobility, often requiring full-time nursing care and wheelchairs for transportation. Paralysis, even if on only one side of the body, can make tying shoes, bathing, eating, and dressing without assistance difficult, if not impossible. Problems with vision or speaking, cognitive problems, sexual dysfunction, and incontinence are also common.

You can not control some risk factors

Some risk factors are beyond your control. If an immediate family member has ever had a stroke, your risk is increased. Men are also more likely to have a stroke, although women die more often from them. Those in the geographical southeast have a higher prevalence of stroke, as do African Americans and those suffering from diabetes. Also, with each decade after the age of 55, your chances for a stroke double.

You can control some risk factors

The good news is that you can control some of the risks that often lead to strokes. Living a healthy lifestyle is crucial. Do not smoke cigarettes, and if you do, quit. Limit your alcohol intake to one per day for women and two per day for men. Get off the couch and get some exercise each day. Even 30 minutes of exercise per day is beneficial. If you are obese, lose weight. Choose to eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and healthy fats from nuts or olive oil, limiting red meat, animal based fats, and fried foods. If your blood cholesterol or blood pressure is high, see your physician for medications that will control the problem.

Preventive screening can reduce your risk

More than half of all people who suffer from a stroke had no symptoms beforehand. Occasionally, a person will have mini-strokes, called transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), before undergoing a larger, more devastating stroke. If you have temporary problems with a severe headache, blurred vision, numbness or tingling on one side of the body, dizziness, loss of balance, difficulty talking or understanding speech, you may be having a TIA.

Because most strokes are symptomless, though, preventive screening is crucial and can save your life. Mobile screening companies now make the process quick, easy, and convenient. Many set up screenings in local gyms, churches, or community centers. At the screening, a skilled sonographer performs an ultrasound of the carotid arteries, a process that is painless and is the best indicator of stroke and heart disease.

For more information on stroke, stroke risks, and preventive screening, visit http://www.HealthYes.com/.

Stroke and Stroke Risk: 5 Things You Should Know

May 7, 2010
By

Each year in the United States, strokes affect almost 900,000 people and their families. Among those who survive a stroke, the effects can be devastating and debilitating. Many risk factors contribute to your chances of suffering one. Arming yourself with knowledge about strokes may allow you to prevent one from happening to you. Read on to learn about stroke and stroke risk: 5 things you should know.

Strokes are the third leading cause of death each year in the U.S.

Only cancer and heart disease kill more people in the U.S. each year than do strokes. If you are lucky enough to survive a stroke, you may be debilitated to the point that you can no longer work or care for yourself, straining your finances as well as the emotional health of you and your family as you deal with the effects.

Stroke can make your life harder

Thy physical effects of a stroke can make your life much more difficult. After a stroke, many people have issues with mobility, often requiring full-time nursing care and wheelchairs for transportation. Paralysis, even if on only one side of the body, can make tying shoes, bathing, eating, and dressing without assistance difficult, if not impossible. Problems with vision or speaking, cognitive problems, sexual dysfunction, and incontinence are also common.

You can not control some risk factors

Some risk factors are beyond your control. If an immediate family member has ever had a stroke, your risk is increased. Men are also more likely to have a stroke, although women die more often from them. Those in the geographical southeast have a higher prevalence of stroke, as do African Americans and those suffering from diabetes. Also, with each decade after the age of 55, your chances for a stroke double.

You can control some risk factors

The good news is that you can control some of the risks that often lead to strokes. Living a healthy lifestyle is crucial. Do not smoke cigarettes, and if you do, quit. Limit your alcohol intake to one per day for women and two per day for men. Get off the couch and get some exercise each day. Even 30 minutes of exercise per day is beneficial. If you are obese, lose weight. Choose to eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, grains, and healthy fats from nuts or olive oil, limiting red meat, animal based fats, and fried foods. If your blood cholesterol or blood pressure is high, see your physician for medications that will control the problem.

Preventive screening can reduce your risk

More than half of all people who suffer from a stroke had no symptoms beforehand. Occasionally, a person will have mini-strokes, called transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), before undergoing a larger, more devastating stroke. If you have temporary problems with a severe headache, blurred vision, numbness or tingling on one side of the body, dizziness, loss of balance, difficulty talking or understanding speech, you may be having a TIA.

Because most strokes are symptomless, though, preventive screening is crucial and can save your life. Mobile screening companies now make the process quick, easy, and convenient. Many set up screenings in local gyms, churches, or community centers. At the screening, a skilled sonographer performs an ultrasound of the carotid arteries, a process that is painless and is the best indicator of stroke and heart disease.

For more information on stroke, stroke risks, and preventive screening, visit http://www.HealthYes.com/.

Am I in Danger of Having a Stroke?

May 3, 2010
By

Stroke is the third leading cause of death each year in the United States, affecting about 795,000 people and killing about 144,000 of those. Strokes are also the leading cause of serious, long-term disability. While some stroke risk factors can be controlled, others cannot. Have you ever wondered, “Am I in danger of having a stroke?”

Uncontrollable Factors

Age

With each decade after the age of 55, your chances for having a stroke double. However, while strokes are most common in those over 65, they can affect people of any age.

Gender

While strokes are more common in men, more than half of all stroke deaths in a given year occur in women. Use of birth control pills and pregnancy increase the risks for women.

Family History and Race

If one of your immediate family members has ever had a stroke, your risk is increased. Additionally, African Americans have a greater chance of dying from a stroke than Caucasians, due to an increased prevalence of high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.

Controllable Factors

High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is the most controllable risk factor, as well as the most important one, because it is the leading cause of strokes. Some believe that a decline in stroke deaths in recent years may be due to the availability of more effective medications for controlling the condition.

Cigarette Smoking

The nicotine and carbon monoxide found in cigarette smoke damage the cardiovascular system in many ways. When combined with birth control pills, the danger rises.

Diabetes Mellitus

While diabetes can be controlled, the presence of the disease increases your risk for stroke. Additionally, many people with diabetes are overweight and have high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol, which increases the risk.

High Blood Cholesterol

High blood cholesterol increases your chance for stroke. Additionally, low levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol, may also be a risk factor. Medications and changes in diet can help treat this condition.

Obesity and Physical Inactivity

Unfortunately, either one or both can increase your risk for stroke, as well as increasing your risk for high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, heart disease, and diabetes. Even 30 minutes of activity each day, combined with a healthy diet low in saturated fats, trans fats, salt, and cholesterol, can lead to better health.

Lesser Known Risks

Interestingly, geographic location can predict your chance of stroke. Because strokes are so much more common in the southeastern United States, the area is sometimes referred to as the stroke belt.

Alcohol abuse can lead to stroke. If you are a man who consumes more than two drinks daily or a woman who consumes more than one, your risk is increased.

Socioeconomic status may also affect your risk. Strokes are more common among low-income people than those who are affluent, perhaps in part to reduced availability of health care.

Drug abuse may account for many strokes seen in younger victims. Cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin all increase your risk for stroke.

Almost 90 percent of all strokes happen because of clots that block the arteries in the brain. The leading cause of these clots is carotid artery disease, a condition where plaque accumulates in the arteries supplying blood to the neck and brain. When this plaque breaks loose and travels to smaller arteries in the brain, a stroke occurs.

Unfortunately, more than half of all stroke victims exhibit no symptoms beforehand. However, easy, non-invasive tests using color Doppler ultrasound can identify your risk. By detecting the problem early, up to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented.

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