According to the American Stroke Association, stroke is the leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability in the United States. This is a scary reality, especially because many stroke risk factors (such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure) remain hidden until they become less obvious.
But just because some risk factors aren’t always obvious, that doesn’t mean strokes can’t be controlled. In fact, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 80% of strokes can be prevented through lifestyle changes (such as exercise, diet, etc.).
No one knows this better than the experts who deal with this issue. Stroke doctors say they’ve given a lot of thought to key ways to reduce the risk of stroke—and their patients’ risk.
“I like to think more proactively — what can I do to prevent a stroke,” said Dr. Anthony King, a vascular neurologist and medical director of the University of California, San Francisco Stroke Center.
Below, stroke doctors share the habits they personally avoid and why you should avoid them too.
Maintain a sedentary lifestyle
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Dr. Arthur Wang, chief of endovascular neurosurgery at Tulane University School of Medicine, said a sedentary lifestyle is one of the modifiable risk factors for stroke.
While there isn’t a comprehensive definition of a sedentary lifestyle, in general it means spending too much time sitting or lying down and not enough time moving or moving around.
“Research shows that regular physical activity helps keep blood vessels clear. It can stop the build-up of plaque in the arteries,” Wang said. “So we generally recommend that people do about 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week.”
This might mean walking, running, biking, gardening, or taking a group exercise class—there’s no wrong way to move.
Ignore high blood pressure
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“It turns out that many of the healthy lifestyle recommendations we recommend can also reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke,” King said. “But if there’s one factor that has the biggest impact, it’s blood pressure, blood pressure, blood pressure.”
Elevated blood pressure, especially over time, can cause problems: High blood pressure is the largest modifiable risk factor for stroke, he said.
“If you took a magic wand, waved it, and suddenly eliminated high blood pressure in the American population, you would reduce the incidence of strokes by 60 percent,” Kim said. “This is by far the leading risk factor for stroke, and we It’s called a silent killer because usually patients don’t feel it; you have to check for it, monitor it, and treat it.
Skip regular checks
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“These risk factors often don’t have any real symptoms,” Wang said, which is a cause for concern. “Patients will never know if they have high blood pressure or if they have high cholesterol unless all of these are tested or screened regularly.”
This means it is critical that you see your primary care doctor for routine checkups they deem necessary. He adds that they will screen you for problems such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure, as well as check other risk factors such as your blood sugar and weight.
“I think it’s important to be hypervigilant about these things, especially when these stroke risk factors are very covert, meaning they don’t show up in any real symptoms, so it’s really important for patients to understand that so they can take actionable steps. Go to the doctor for these routine screening tests,” Wang said.
Your doctor can also check for any risk factors you can’t control, such as gender (strokes are more common in women, Wang said), race (strokes are more common in blacks, he noted) and personal medical history.
“In terms of past medical history, those who have had a stroke in the past, or one of their parents has had a stroke in the past, have a much higher risk of future stroke,” Wang said.
smoke
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According to Kim and Wang, smoking is one of the most important habits to avoid.
“At this point, it certainly increases the risk of stroke and heart disease,” King said.
“One of the ways this is done is by causing the blood vessels to narrow over time, which ultimately leads to a blockage of blood flow to that part of the brain, which is essentially a stroke,” he explained.
drink too much
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You probably know that alcohol is bad for you. It has been linked to certain cancers, liver disease and, of course, stroke. Specifically, King said “… there is a link between excessive alcohol consumption and the risk of heart disease and stroke.”
Drinking recommendations vary from person to person, but the Centers for Disease Control considers drinking more than four drinks in one sitting for women or five or more drinks for men to be excessive. Drinking more than eight drinks per week for women and more than 15 drinks per week for men is also considered excessive drinking.
In general, it’s believed that women shouldn’t have more than one drink a day and men shouldn’t have more than two drinks a day, King said. These are also recommendations made by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
ignore your diet
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Proper diet is also important in controlling stroke risk. That means cutting back on foods high in saturated fat, sugar and salt, Wang said. (In addition, King noted a relationship between salt intake and high blood pressure, which, as we now know, is another stroke risk factor.)
when it comes to your affairs should Over the meal, King pointed to the work of author and journalist Michael Pollan. The advice, Wang said, is to “eat food, mainly plants, not too much.” This means a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, with some meat added.
Cancel necessary treatment
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Because strokes are so common in this country (and the world), it’s important to know the symptoms and get treatment as soon as possible. King said existing stroke treatments are more effective the earlier they are completed.
“Because many strokes are not painful and the symptoms of stroke vary widely, it is important to recognize the symptoms of stroke,” he said.
And, there’s a helpful acronym that can help people remember the signs — that acronym is “FAST,” Kim said. According to the American Stroke Association’s website, FAST stands for “Facial Drooping, Arm Weakness, Speech Difficulty, and Time to Call 9-1-1.”
“These are not a list of all potential stroke symptoms; [factors] It raises the suspicion that this could be a stroke, especially if it happens suddenly,” Kim noted.
Again, it’s crucial to remember to get treatment as soon as possible, he said.This article was originally published in Huffington Post.
