Preventing a stroke is one of the most important things you can do to improve your health. It is scary when your normally active person does not want to talk anymore and can’t move parts of their body. The good news is that with timely intervention, you can prevent some of these strokes from even happening or from getting worse.
A stroke happens when the flow of blood is cut off to part of your brain. Most are caused by a clot or something else that blocks the flow. These are called ischemic strokes. About 10% are caused by bleeding in the brain. These are hemorrhagic strokes.
Age makes us more susceptible to having a stroke, as does having a mother, father, or other close relative who has had a stroke. You can’t reverse the years or change your family history, but there are many other stroke risk factors that you can control—provided that you’re aware of them. Knowledge is power. If you know that a particular risk factor is sabotaging your health and predisposing you to a higher risk of stroke, you can take steps to alleviate the effects of that risk.
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What causes a stroke?
The cause of a stroke depends on the type of stroke. The three main types of stroke are transient ischemic attack (TIA), ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke.
A TIA is caused by a temporary blockage in an artery that leads to the brain. The blockage, typically a blood clot, stops blood from flowing to certain parts of the brain. A TIA typically lasts for a few minutes up to a few hours, and then the blockage moves and blood flow is restored.
Like a TIA, an ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage in an artery that leads to the brain. This blockage may be a blood clot, or it may be caused by atherosclerosis. With this condition, plaque (a fatty substance) builds up on the walls of a blood vessel. A piece of the plaque can break off and lodge in an artery, blocking the flow of blood and causing an ischemic stroke.
A hemorrhagic stroke, on the other hand, is caused by a burst or leaking blood vessel. Blood seeps into or around the tissues of the brain, causing pressure and damaging brain cells.
There are two possible causes of a hemorrhagic stroke. An aneurysm (a weakened, bulging section of a blood vessel) can be caused by high blood pressure and can lead to a burst blood vessel. Less often, a condition called an arteriovenous malformation, which is an abnormal connection between your veins and arteries, can lead to bleeding in the brain. Keep reading about the causes of different types of strokes.
Prevention of Stroke
So what can you do to tilt the odds in your favor?
Don’t Ignore the Snore
Loud, constant snoring may be a sign of a disorder called sleep apnea, which can make you stop breathing hundreds of times during the night. It can boost your chances of a stroke by keeping you from getting enough oxygen and raising your blood pressure.
Manage Your Heart
An irregular heartbeat, called atrial fibrillation (AFib), is behind some strokes caused by blood clots. AFib makes blood pool in your heart, where it can clot. If that clot travels to your brain, it can cause a stroke. You can have AFib because of high blood pressure, plaques in your arteries, heart failure, and other reasons.
Lose weight
Obesity, as well as the complications linked to it (including high blood pressure and diabetes), raises your odds of having a stroke. If you’re overweight, losing as little as 10 pounds can have a real impact on your stroke risk. While an ideal body mass index (BMI) is 25 or less, that may not be realistic for you. Work with your doctor to create a personal weight loss strategy.
Stay Away From Smoking
You double your risk of a stroke if you use tobacco. Nicotine in cigarettes raises blood pressure, and carbon monoxide in smoke lowers the amount of oxygen your blood can carry. Even breathing secondhand smoke can raise your chances of a stroke.
Tobacco can also:
- Raise your levels of a blood fat called triglycerides
- Lower your levels of “good” HDL cholesterol
- Make your blood sticky and more likely to clot
- Make plaque buildup more likely
- Thicken and narrow blood vessels and damage their linings
Talk to your doctor about ways to quit smoking. Nicotine patches and counseling can help. Don’t give up if you don’t succeed the first time.
Lower Your Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is the No. 1 cause of strokes. It’s the reason for more than half of them. A normal blood pressure reading is lower than 120/80. If yours is regularly above 130/80, you might have high blood pressure, or hypertension.
If it’s not managed well, high blood pressure can make you 4-6 times more likely to have a stroke. This is because it can thicken the artery walls and make cholesterol or other fats build up and form plaques. If one of those breaks free, it can block your brain’s blood supply.
High blood pressure also can weaken arteries and make them more likely to burst, which would cause a hemorrhagic stroke. If you have high blood pressure, work with your doctor to keep your pressure in the healthy range. Medication and lifestyle changes, such as regular exercise and eating healthy, can help.
Medications, medical procedures, and surgery can get your heart back into normal rhythm. If you don’t know if you have AFib but feel heart flutters or have shortness of breath, see your doctor.
An Aspirin a Day?
A low-dose aspirin every day may prevent strokes and heart attacks in people at higher risk. It acts as blood thinner, preventing blood clots from forming in arteries partly blocked by cholesterol and plaque. It’s not for everyone, though, so don’t start taking aspirin without talking to your doctor first.
And don’t give someone an aspirin if they’re showing signs of stroke like slurred speech or a drooping face. It can make a hemorrhagic stroke worse. Instead, call 911 right away.
Watch the Cholesterol
Too much of this can clog your arteries and lead to heart attack and stroke. Keep your numbers in the healthy range:
- Total cholesterol: under 200 mg/dL of blood
- LDL (bad) cholesterol: under 100 mg/dL
- HDL (good) cholesterol: above 60 mg/dL
If diet and exercise aren’t enough to keep your cholesterol in check, your doctor may recommend medication.
Exercise
Being a couch potato can lead to obesity, high cholesterol, diabetes, and high blood pressure — a recipe for stroke. So get moving. You don’t have to run a marathon. It’s enough to work out 30 minutes, 5 days a week. You should do enough to make you breathe hard, but not huff and puff. Talk to your doctor before you start exercising.
Control Your Diabetes
High blood sugar can make you 2-4 times more likely to have a stroke. If it’s not managed well, diabetes can lead to fatty deposits or clots inside your blood vessels. This can narrow the ones in your brain and neck and might cut off the blood supply to the brain.
If you have diabetes, check your blood sugar regularly, take medications as prescribed, and see your doctor every few months so they can keep an eye on your levels.
Eat Better Foods
Healthy eating can lower your risk of a stroke and help you shed weight if you need to. Load up on fresh fruits and veggies (broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and leafy greens like spinach are best) every day. Choose lean proteins and high-fiber foods. Stay away from trans and saturated fats, which can clog your arteries. Cut salt, and avoid processed foods. They’re often loaded with salt, which can raise your blood pressure, and trans fats.
Take Your Meds
If you’ve already had a stroke, make sure to take any medicine your doctor gives you to help prevent another one. At least 25% of people who have a stroke stop taking one or more of their drugs within 3 months. That’s especially dangerous because that’s when you’re most likely to have another one.
Conclusion
Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Fortunately, it is also one of the most preventable. The American Heart Association estimates that 80% of strokes are preventable through simple lifestyle changes.