Health Tips - Stroke

Healthy lifestyle is a key to productivity and a healthy life is a wealthy life. understanding  some health Tips that guard against  ailment known as Stroke.
What is Stroke?
Sometime around 400 B.C., Hippocrates, often called the father of western medicine, first recognized stroke, which at that time was called apoplexy.
Because doctors knew so little about the brain, for centuries the cause of the condition remained a medical mystery. Not until 1600 did doctors understand that strokes were “brain attacks” associated with blockages and bleeding in the brain.Today stroke is the Number 4 cause of death.
Stroke can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of race, sex or age.
Strokes occur because of a sudden failure of the brain to receive the oxygen and nutrients it needs to thrive.

This can happen for either of two reasons:

1.A blood vessel in the brain is blocked by a clot or plaque.

2.A blood vessel in the brain ruptures

Risk Factors You Can Control 
Controlling some risk factors may be a matter of you making up your mind to change some of your everyday routines while others may require a form of medical intervention.

Hypertension or High Blood Pressure.
Blood pressure measures the pressure blood exerts on the walls of the arteries as it courses its way through the body.
The problem with high blood pressure is that it causes your heart to work harder, which can weaken blood vessels and harm major organs. A healthy reading is about 120/80.
Readings consistently above 140/90 indicate your blood pressure is in the danger zone.
You can help keep your blood pressure in check by limiting your intake of sodium (which is found in abundance in many processed foods like cold cuts, canned soup and frozen dinners), drinking alcohol in moderation or not at all,exercising regularly, and keeping your weight at a healthy
level. In addition, your doctor can prescribe medications that
can help lower your blood pressure.

High Cholesterol.
Everybody needs cholesterol, but too much cholesterol in the bloodstream can clog arteries and lead to a stroke or heart attack. In addition to having an overall cholesterol reading of less than 200, you should have an HDL (good cholesterol) reading above 40, and an LDL (bad cholesterol) reading of less than 100.
The best defense is a diet high in grains, fruits and vegetables, and low in saturated fat. As with hypertension, your doctor can prescribe medications that can help lower your cholesterol.

Diabetes.
There are two kinds of diabetes, Type I (insulin dependent) and Type 2 (non-insulin dependent). Type 2 has been known as Adult Onset Diabetes, but the alarming rise in Type 2 among very young people, brought on largely by the obesity epidemic, is making that term obsolete. People with either type of diabetes generally have one or more other risk factors for stroke: heart disease, high cholesterol including high levels of LDL, and high blood pressure, all of which increase a person’s chances of having a stroke or a heart attack.
If you are overweight — and many people with Type 2 are —a loss of as few as ten pounds can bring about a significant drop in blood glucose levels. Exercise can likewise help. A diet that qualifies as heart healthy is an excellent diet for a diabetic. While Type 1 diabetics are generally prescribed
insulin, Type 2 diabetics may be prescribed oral medication or, if these are not successful, insulin.
Did you know?
A loss of as few as ten pounds can result in a significant drop in your blood glucose level and reduce your chance for stroke.
Risk factors you can’t control
Unfortunately there are a few risk factors that you can do
nothing about.
Age.
Stroke can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of race, sex or age, but the older you are, the more prone you are to stroke. If you’re over 55, your chances of stroke double every ten years.
Gender.
This is a bit complicated. In any given year, 55,000 more women than men suffer strokes. That’s somewhat misleading because women live longer and have strokes at more advanced ages. At younger ages, however, when the pool of men and women are more equal, more men than women of the same age have strokes in any given year.
Either way, there’s nothing one can do to improve the odds based on gender alone.
Race.
African Americans, Hispanics and Asian/Pacific Islanders are all at greater risk for strokes than Caucasians.
Family Background.
If a family member has had a stroke, your risk of having one is greater.
Prior Stroke.
If you have already had a stroke, unfortunately your chances of having another are many times greater than if you had not had one. You can’t wipe that stroke off your record but you can adhere to an anti-stroke lifestyle: proper diet, regular exercise, no smoking, little or no alcohol and using any medication your doctor prescribes.
Transient Ischemic Attacks or TIAs.
TIAs are warning or mini-strokes that produce stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage. If you have had one or more TIAs, the likelihood that you will have a stroke is tenfold greater than that of someone of your age and
gender who has not.
Heart Attack.
A heart attack is a strong indicator that you may have a stroke at some time in the future. Leading an intensely heart healthy lifestyle after your attack can improve the odds
Stroke warning signs

The following are stroke warning signs:
*Sudden weakness or numbness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
*Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
*Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
*Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
*Sudden, severe headaches with no known cause (for hemorrhagic stroke)

8 things you can do to prevent a stroke -
1.  Lower blood pressure. ...
2.  Lose weight. ...
3.  Exercise more. ...
4.  Drink—in moderation. ...
5.  Take a baby aspirin. ...
6.  Treat atrial fibrillation. ...
7.  Treat diabetes. ...
8.  Quit smoking.
Identify a stroke F-A-S-T
Too many people ignore the signs of stroke because they question whether their symptoms are real. “My recommendation is, don’t wait if you have any unusual symptoms.”
“People should listen to their bodies and trust their instincts. If something is off, get professional help right away.”
A blood vessel in the brain is blocked by a clot or plaque.
A blood in the brain ruptures.
Culled from Oceanic Health Management Limited Publication.