Stroke sounds deadly, however, it is not something inevitable. With corrective measures and a little cautiousness, you can keep it at a bay. Risk of stroke is influenced by several factors. It can emerge due to the age factor, besides the common lineage and the environment one lives in. The most affecting factor, however, lies in the personal choices one makes.
What Is A Stroke?
A stroke occurs when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted or reduced. This lack of oxygen and nutrient supply disrupts brain functioning.
The disruption of brain function can be ischemic or hemorrhagic. The former being caused because of a clot resulting in the blockage of the flow while the latter occurs due to bleeding into the tissue of the brain.
As discussed earlier, you can lower stroke risk so let’s dive into how a stroke is preventable. While you cannot break the blood ties or shut yourself from the surroundings altogether, the least you could do is alter your lifestyle and the habits.
The Blood Pressure:-
This is the most dominant factor. It doubles, triples or even quadruples the risk of having a stroke. Ideally, one must try to maintain the blood pressure of about 120/80. Try to monitor it regularly. If it is above 130/80, you got to put that thinking cap on, because this shows high blood pressure or hypertension.
A small guide to lowering the Blood Pressure:
1) Foremost, reduce the salt quotient in your diet.
2) Engage in some physical activity for at least half an hour a day. Make it a point to exercise, skip a rope, or swim. Just sweat it out!
3) Avoid junk foods, such as cheese, burgers, and fries as they are high in cholesterol.
4) Try to inculcate about one serving of fish in your diet.
5) Include more greens (broccoli, spinach) and fruits in your diet.
6) And if you are a smoker, quit it as soon as possible.
Consult a doctor and take blood pressure medicines, should a need arises.
Obesity:
Run for your life if you are a couch potato! Obesity shall entrap you or must we say, already has entrapped you.
This is another major factor which might make things unfavorable. Therefore, it is essential to control it.
Incorporate physical activity or increase it to maintain the weight. And try to consume only 1500 to 2000 calories a day.
An Aspirin A Day Keeps The Stroke Away:
Aspirin helps in thinning the blood and prevents the formation of blood clots. Medical advice, however, must be taken before having one. Also, do not consume aspirin while going through a stroke; it would only worsen the situation.
Smoking Kills:
Nearly everyone who smokes read this on the packet, but shrugs it away. This is some serious danger you are putting yourself in!
You increase the risk of having a stroke by great numbers with each cigarette you smoke. Nicotine increases the blood pressure, and along with tobacco and cigarette constituents causes the blood to clot. The oxygen supply to the brain is restricted as a result which can have disastrous consequences.
So when you think about being able to avoid the stroke, giving up on smoking is the only wisest option, to begin with. Your loved ones around you get in danger of having a stroke too as second-hand smoking is equally risky.
Physical Activity:
We talked earlier how incorporating a physical activity can reduce the risks of having a stroke. Now let’s see how you can do that even if you can’t hit that gym.
1) Set out to walk around the neighborhood for about good 25-30 minutes. Something is better than nothing and this is much better than being a couch-bag.
2) If you take an elevator to your office building, try taking the stairs when you can.
3) Get yourself a tennis partner and play till you reach the point you are breathing hard. Know the difference between breathing hard and choking yourself!
4) Make it a habit of taking a morning run.
Keep the Booze Low:
Cutting on the alcohol content can do wonders. Ideally, a man can consume two drinks a day and it is one drink for a woman. More than this can be troublesome as too much of this can raise the blood pressure and you wouldn’t want that.
Some easy tips you could follow to at least kick-start the “cut the booze” movement:
1) If you go for a large glass every time, try going for a small one the next time you take a drink.
2) Replace cocktails with mock-tails. Plan your gatherings around it.
3) Let the world know that you have embarked on the mission to cut on the alcohol consumption. So the next time someone offers you something to drink, it is a juice or a soft drink. A little support such as this can help a lot.
Take It Easy:
Life happens to everyone every once in a while. But know that these ups and downs are part and parcel of life and we shouldn’t take it too hard on ourselves. Stressing over something brings out nothing but only adverse effects on one’s health. Stress is as important a contributing factor as smoking or boozing when it comes to strokes.
Sadly it is stress, which leads one to the road of alcoholism or excessive smoking as they are considered stress relievers by many. Therefore, it is extremely important to sit and identify the root cause of all the stress instead of drowning oneself in it. If you can’t get over it, seek professional help.
Is it some financial problem or bad relationships or even office politics? Whatever the case may be, sit, reflect, and try to sort it out instead of letting it build up. This is how you can live a happier and healthier life. So, do yourself the ultimate favor of cutting out all the toxicity from life!
Author: Rachael Everly
