A stroke is an attack of the brain. A stroke can happen when something prevents blood delivery to a part of the brain. You may also have a stroke when a brain’s blood vessel bursts. As a result, part of your brain may suffer damage or die due to inadequate or lack of oxygen-rich blood. Damage to the brain may cause you to die or have a long-lasting disability. RHBNeuro provides immediate medical attention if you are having a stroke. Going for immediate treatment may help minimize the brain damage that a stroke causes. Common signs and symptoms that may help you identify a brain attack include sudden numbness or weakness on one side of your body, impaired speech, difficulty seeing, trouble walking due to loss of balance, and severe headache.
Before a full stroke, you often experience a mini-stroke called transient ischemic attack (TIA). The name mini-stroke is a bit misleading because its symptoms can be severe, even if there is no permanent brain damage.
Because TIA lasts a few minutes, you may ignore it and not seek medical help. That can devastatingly affect your life.
Numerous scientific studies show that you can minimize your risk of stroke by generally avoiding poor lifestyle choices and controlling your health conditions. Consequently, below are tips that may help safeguard you against stroke.
1.Maintain a healthy blood pressure
If you have high blood pressure, you become two to four times at risk of stroke. High blood pressure can cause deterioration and bursting or blocking of the tiny blood vessels supplying oxygenated blood to the brain. Hypertension may also lead to blood clotting in your brain, triggering a stroke.
Therefore, your goal is to ensure your blood pressure is healthy. Check your blood pressure regularly, avoid eating high-cholesterol foods, reduce high salt intake, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables daily, avoid smoking, stay physically active, and use medications prescribed by your doctor.
2.Avoid overweight
Your body relies on two blood vessels in your neck to transport blood to different brain parts. Thus, that part of your circulatory system is prone to secondary health issues of obesity, such as heart enlargement, metabolic disorders, hypertension, and diabetes.
As a result, you become more at risk of a stroke. Studies show that every unit increase in the body mass index puts you five times more at risk of stroke.
You can keep a healthy weight by staying hydrated, exercising regularly, and eating a healthy diet.
3.Treat Afib
Atrial fibrillation, also called AF, is an irregular and rapid heart rhythm that can cause the formation of blood clots in your heart. Blood clotting blocks blood vessels and may cause heart-related complications like heart failure and stroke.
Your doctor may prescribe blood thinning medications to reduce your risk of stroke due to atrial fibrillation.
4.Stop smoking
If you regularly and heavily smoke, your risk of stroke doubles. Smoking introduces toxins in your blood pressure that triggers an increase in blood pressure and a reduction in the oxygen in your blood. The more than 3000 toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke may end up in your lungs and bloodstream, damaging your blood vessels.
