Can stroke be predicted? New studies indicate the answer is affirmative. Yes, it’s a yes! Let’s get into the details and understand it further.
You can protect yourself from the onslaught of stroke irrespective of your age or family history. Here are seven preventive measures you can opt for to prevent stroke.
- Control your blood pressure: High blood pressure is a potential risk factor of stroke. You can adhere to the following lifestyle changes to control BP.
- Lessen your salt intake
- Avoid high cholesterol foods such as burgers, ice creams, etc.
- Quit smoking
- Include more fruits and vegetables in your diet
- Exercise regularly
- Lose weight: Obesity or being overweight can also predispose you to the risk of having a stroke. Maintain a healthy weight by reducing your calorie intake and following a consistent exercise regime.
- Exercise: Ensure at least 30 mins – 1 hour of daily exercising is added to your routine. You can opt for walking, jogging, running, sports activity or joining a fitness program. Before starting your exercise regime, it is advisable to consult a doctor who can guide you with exercises basis of your fitness level.
- Say no to alcohol or drink in moderation: Consuming too much alcohol can contribute to a number of conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, liver damage and all of these are the risk factors for stroke. Hence it is highly advisable to avoid drinking alcohol.
- Get treated for irregular heartbeat: If you’ve heart fibrillation, get it treated. Fibrillation increases the risk of having stroke since it can cause blood clots to form in the heart and in case if these clots form in the brain, it can lead to stroke.
- Keep diabetes under control: Diabetes is a major risk factor for stroke. Hence, it’s important to keep it under control and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
- Be aware of stroke: In the event of a stroke, the most critical thing is to take the patient to the hospital without time-lapse. Keeping F.A.S.T. in mind can help in identifying stroke easily and thus get emergency treatment for the patients.
F.A.S.T. stands for:
F – Face dropping, especially while smiling
A – Arm weakness
S – Speech difficulty
T – Time to act
While stroke is both predictable and preventable, what makes a difference when it comes to keeping ourselves safe from the clutches of stroke is action from our part. From eating right to exercising regularly, there are myriad ways in which we can keep stroke at bay.
While the method to predict stroke is indeed a revolutionary finding, chances are unlikely that it has reached yet to your community healthcare centers. So ideally, it’s better to focus on prevention. By adhering to the methods, which have already been mentioned, stroke can be effectively prevented.
Remember, stroke is often dubbed by experts as a lifestyle-related disease.
By making lifestyle changes, we can live free without worrying about our life toppled by a stroke!
Dr. Harish A H, Consultant Neurologist, Sahyadri Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Shimoga