Tennova Healthcare Advises Stroke Prevention Begins With Better Choices
9/18/2017
Managing health conditions can greatly reduce your stroke risk
September 18, 2017 – Each year, more than 600,000 people in the United States suffer a stroke, yet up to 80 percent of all strokes are preventable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tennova Healthcare has a checklist to assist you in managing health conditions and making better choices on controllable factors that increase your stroke risk.
“Anyone can have a stroke,” said Robert E. Malka, M.D., a neuro-hospitalist with Tennova Healthcare. “While it’s true that certain risk factors like age and family history are beyond our control, there are many lifestyle choices we can make to vastly reduce the likelihood of a stroke.”
Even better, most of the lifestyle choices needed to reduce your risk of stroke will also significantly lower your risk of heart disease and cancer, while enhancing your overall health and quality of life. Here is your priority checklist:
- Control your blood pressure. High blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke, and it is also the most controllable risk factor. If you can’t manage healthy blood pressure through diet and exercise alone—and many people can’t—talk with your doctor about medicines that may help.
- Stop smoking. The nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke damage the cardiovascular system and pave the way for a stroke to occur. The use of birth control pills, combined with cigarette smoking, can elevate the risk of stroke even further.
- Get fit. Both inactivity and excess body weight can increase your risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Go on a brisk walk. Take the stairs. Do everything you can to make your life more active. If your body mass index (BMI) is over 25, make losing weight a top priority.
- Use food as preventive medicine. Consider adopting a Mediterranean diet, which is high in Omega-3 fatty acids. Research indicates that a diet high in fruits, vegetables, fish and unrefined foods is linked to a lower risk of stroke and heart attack in people who have heart disease. Minimize saturated fat and trans fat intake; keep calories within a healthy range; and if you have high blood pressure, shake the salt habit. Avoid salting foods at the table, read labels at the store, and eat fewer packaged and processed foods.
- Prevent or control diabetes. Diabetes (both type I and type II) is an independent risk factor for stroke. If you are diabetic, have your A1C levels checked regularly, and follow your doctor’s guidance to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range.
- Manage cholesterol levels. Too much cholesterol in the bloodstream increases your risk of atherosclerotic plaque development (blockage in the arteries) and the possibility of a stroke. To get your cholesterol numbers in a healthy range, talk with your doctor about cholesterol-lowering medications.
- Manage atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib increases stroke risk significantly because it causes the heart's upper chambers to beat incorrectly. This can allow blood to pool and clot, and those clots can then travel to the brain and cause a stroke. If you have AFib, confer with your doctor about treatment options.
- Address other medical conditions. If you have sleep apnea, sickle cell disease, peripheral or carotid artery disease, or other diseases of the heart or blood vessels, ask your doctor about the impact of these conditions on your risk for a stroke, and how best to manage each.
A quick response is critical in the event of any suspected stroke. F.A.S.T. is a simple way to remember the sudden signs of a stroke. The acronym encourages inspection of a person’s face, arms and speech for any signs that are out of the ordinary, and it underscores that time is of the essence in stroke diagnosis and treatment.
“Other stroke symptoms can include sudden and severe headache, confusion, numbness on one side of the body, and loss of vision,” Dr. Malka said. “Treatment must be administered promptly to avoid irreversible damage. So, if you suspect a stroke, call 9-1-1 immediately.”
To help determine your risk of suffering a stroke, Tennova Healthcare offers a free assessment tool at TennovaStrokeQuiz.com. In as few as five minutes, the online tool identifies personal risk factors for stroke, offers tips to take control of manageable risk factors, and provides an instant report to share with your physician. Visit TennovaStrokeQuiz.com to take the free stroke risk assessment.
For more information or to find a doctor, call 1-855-TENNOVA (836-6682).
About Tennova Healthcare
One of the state’s largest health networks, Tennova Healthcare includes 16 hospitals and more than 115 physician clinics. The combined network has approximately 2,600 licensed beds, 2,800 physicians on the combined active medical staffs, and 9,000 employees, with more than 70,000 admissions and 465,000 emergency department visits each year.
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