How To Avoid Stroke And Heart Attack

High Blood Pressure And High Cholesterol

Does aspirin help prevent stroke and heart attacks? – Mayo Clinic Radio

High blood pressure is a leading cause of heart disease and stroke because it damages the lining of the arteries, making them more susceptible to the buildup of plaque, which narrows the arteries leading to the heart and brain. About 116 million US adults have high blood pressure, defined as 130/80 mm Hg or higher. Only about 1 in 4 of these people have their high blood pressure under control. About 7 in 10 people who have a first heart attack and 8 in 10 people who have a first stroke have high blood pressure.

Eating too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure. Americans aged 2 years or older consume an average of about 3,400 mg of sodium each day, well over the 2,300 mg recommended by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. More than 70% of the sodium Americans consume is added outside the home , not added as salt at the table or during home cooking.

High LDL cholesterol can double a persons risk of heart disease. Thats because excess cholesterol can build up in the walls of arteries and limit blood flow to a persons heart, brain, kidneys, other organs, and legs. Although nearly 86 million US adults could benefit from taking medicine to manage their high LDL cholesterol, only about half are doing so.

People can improve their blood pressure and cholesterol levels by eating a healthy diet that is low in sodium, being physically active, maintaining a healthy weight, and taking medicines as recommended.

CDCs Response

Take Any Prescribed Heart Meds

We know. We dont like the idea of prescription drugs, either. However, if a licensed physician prescribes meds to deal with a heart condition, just take them.

If you have an issue taking your medications on time for whatever reason cost, forgetfulness, or side effects, get some advice from your physician.

Those that dont already should consider taking a daily Omega-3 supplement. Consisting of DHA and EHA properties, Omega-3 supplements are very heart-healthy.

How Can I Avoid Heart Disease Or Stroke

Date:: European Society of Cardiology
Summary:: As much as 90% of the risk of a heart attack, stroke, or peripheral arterial disease can be explained by smoking, poor eating habits, lack of physical activity, abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, raised blood lipid levels, diabetes, psychosocial factors, or alcohol. These guidelines focus on atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease , which affects the arteries. As the inside of the arteries become clogged up by fatty deposits, they can no longer supply enough blood to the body. This process is the main cause of heart attacks, strokes, PAD and sudden death where arteries become completely blocked. The most important way to prevent these conditions is to adopt a healthy lifestyle throughout life, especially not smoking, and to treat risk factors.

The European Society of Cardiology Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice are published online today in European Heart Journal.

Recommendations are provided for healthy adults of all ages, as well as patients with established CVD or diabetes. Identifying who will benefit most from preventive treatments, such as blood pressure and lipid lowering therapies, is central to prevention efforts and therefore the estimation of CVD risk is the cornerstone of the guidelines.

Story Source:

You May Like: Why Does Alcohol Increase Heart Rate

You May Like: How Serious Is Congestive Heart Failure

Risk Factors For Stroke

According to the National Institutes of Healths National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, risk factors for stroke include:

High blood pressure
Heart diseases such as cardiomyopathy and atrial fibrillation
Personal or family history of stroke or heart disease
Brain aneurysms or blood vessel malformations

Who Is At Risk For A Stroke

Even a Little Weight exercises can Prevent a Heart Attack, Stroke ...

Anyone can have a stroke at any age. But your chance of having a strokeincreases if you have certain risk factors. Some risk factors for strokecan be changed or managed, while others cant.

Risk factors for stroke that can be changed, treated, or medically managed:

Risk factors for stroke that cant be changed:

Older age. For each decade of life after age 55, your chance of having a stroke more than doubles.
Race. African Americans have a much higher risk for death and disability from a stroke than whites. This is partly because the African-American population has a greater incidence of high blood pressure.
Gender. Stroke occurs more often in men, but more women than men die from stroke.
History of prior stroke. You are at higher risk for having a second stroke after you have already had a stroke.
Heredity or genetics. The chance of stroke is greater in people with a family history of stroke.

Other risk factors include:

Where you live. Strokes are more common among people living in the southeastern U.S. than in other areas. This may be because of regional differences in lifestyle, race, smoking habits, and diet.
Temperature, season, and climate. Stroke deaths occur more often during extreme temperatures.
Social and economic factors. There is some evidence that strokes are more common among low-income people.

Rehabilitation After a Stroke: Mary’s Story

Recommended Reading: How To Fix Congestive Heart Failure

Fasting Helps Against Type 2 Diabetes Insulin Resistance And Prediabetes

Fastingwhether its mimicked, intermittent, or prolongeddecreases high blood sugar and insulin levels. Ive got plenty of patients who dont fast. Our culture has gotten away from fasting, and were so used to eating 3 to 4 meals a day .

I understand. Ive been there until a few years ago. Ive done fasting on and off for many years. I just didnt know that it was so important and had given it up until a few years ago. Then I restarted it.

My name is Ford Brewer. My team and I work to prevent heart attack, stroke, cancer, and dementia. Our goal is to help you understand how to prevent major killers and disablers. Most of them are driven by the process of cardiovascular inflammation.

If you want to know more about the science of preventive medicine or you have questions about certain aspects of your health, check out our webinars, membership programs, and online courses.

If youd like to learn about the basics of heart attack & stroke prevention for free, complete this form, and get access to our CV inflammation course. If youre interested in how we can help you, check out our services page.

Rapid Treatment Saves Lives

Treatment may begin immediately in the ED, even before doctors have confirmed that you are having a heart attack. This may include giving you aspirin or nitroglycerin, oxygen therapy, and/or treatment to reduce your chest pain.

If a heart attack is diagnosed , doctors will act quickly to restore blood flow to the heart. This may include giving you clot-busting medicines that dissolve the clots that are blocking the coronary arteries.

Another treatment is balloon angioplasty, in which a thin, flexible tube with a balloon at the end is threaded through your artery to the blockage. Once the blockage is reached, the balloon is inflated, pressing the clot against the artery walls and restoring blood flow. Doctors also may place a stent in the area of the blockage to hold the artery open and allow blood to continue to flow.

Also Check: Low Heart Rate Chest Pain

Avoid Stroke And Heart Attack By Avoiding These Foods

Health News, Heart Disease, Stroke

Did you know that each year, heart disease and stroke kill more people in the U.S. than all cancers, lower respiratory diseases and cases of influenza and pneumonia combined?

Yet, with all we know about how to avoid these killers, 803,191 Americans still lost their lives in 2018 alone.

What does that mean? Is making lifestyle changes like getting more exercise, losing weight, drinking less alcohol, smoking less and relaxing more just too hard to do?

Theyre not easy for sure. But what may be the hardest is following a heart-healthy diet. Sometimes being told what to eat is not as easy to follow as being told what not to eat

And were saved! A brand-new study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology has given us a list of foods to avoid that could substantially lower your risk of heart disease and stroke

So take a quick minute to read what they are below, then stick this post to your refrigerator.

Adopt A Simple And Affordable Lifestyle To Prevent Heart Attacks

How to prevent a heart attack or ischemic stroke

Many young and middle-aged people today are dying of sudden heart attacks. Studies show that cardiovascular diseases strike Indians a decade earlier compared to their Western counterparts.

Why is this happening? How can we prevent it? Are we just focused on post-heart attack action? Or should we be focused more on prevention?

Luke Coutinho, Holistic Lifestyle Coach Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine shares an input that could prevent heart attacks at a young age:

Cholesterol is not the culprit, inflammation is: Many people believe that high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides are the sole culprits behind their heart attacks. The main reasons behind most heart attacks are inflammation and oxidative damage in the heart, blood vessels, endothelial lining, arteries, and more. While maintaining healthy cholesterol levels is important, we cannot blame heart attacks on cholesterol levels alone.

What then can you do to keep inflammation in check and your heart strong? Adopt simple lifestyle changes.

Learn to accept and let go. Build your self-worth, create a beautiful inner world, reflect inwards, and allow these teachings to slip into your daily living.

Also Check: Does Acid Reflux Cause Heart Palpitations

Watch For The Symptoms Of A Stroke Or Heart Attack

Three dangerous symptoms to watch out for are shortness of breath, chest pain, and numbness/tingling So forget about waiting for these symptoms to go away. Go and get them checked out.

Try to make sure that youre scheduling a comprehensive physical examination at least once per year. As we age, different health variables must be taken into account. Males and females have different health needs as well. A good doctor will know this when you visit for an examination.

Avoid A Heart Attack Or Stroke: 8 Habits To Never Ignore

Knowing the early signs of a heart attack or stroke can change your life. Literally.

Of the 54 million deaths worldwide in 2015, more than half were due to the top 10 causes. Heart attack and stroke are the , accounting for a combined 15 million deaths in 2015. These diseases have remained the leading causes of death globally in the last 15 years. The World Health Organization

Ischemic heart disease is a condition wherein narrowed arteries cause less blood oxygen to be delivered to the heart. Also known as coronary artery disease and coronary heart disease, ischemia to the heart can lead to a heart attack.

A stroke occurs when blood oxygen is cut off to one or various parts of the brain. Cells are deprived of oxygen and begin to die. This results in the loss of function controlled by the area of the brain affected. Over 6 million people die of stroke every year, and an addition 5 million are permanently disabled.

Either condition can be caused by genetic predispositions and/or lifestyle choices. The former is an uncontrollable variable the latter isnt.

In this article, we discuss eight healthy habits that lower the risk of both heart attack and stroke. Even small changes can disproportionately tilt the odds in your favor.

Lets get to it!

Also Check: When Do Heart Attacks Usually Happen

Water And Cayenne Pepper

Another online recommendation thats not effective is to drink a glass of water with a spoonful of cayenne pepper in it. Some people say cayenne pepper is a stimulant capable of increasing the heart rate and carrying blood all over the body, balancing circulation. Some claim that cayenne pepper can stop bleeding instantly.

There is no proof, however, that cayenne pepper or other types of pepper are useful when taken at the onset of a heart attack. Whats more, its not understood how capsaicin might interact with aspirin when taken during a heart attack and experts know that aspirin is helpful.

While you cant control all your heart attack risk factors, such as aging, gender , and heredity, there are some that you can control. To prevent your risk of a heart attack:

Stop smoking and minimize your exposure to secondhand smoke.
Get your high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure under control by modifying your diet, losing weight, taking medication, or doing a combination of these things.
Stay physically active daily.
Control your weight if youre overweight or obese.
If you have diabetes, take care by sticking to your treatment plan and managing your blood sugar.
Get a handle on the stress in your life by practicing relaxation techniques like deep breathing or yoga, or try talk therapy.
Limit your alcohol consumption.

American Heart Association News Stories

10 Tips to Prevent Heart Disease And Stroke

American Heart Association News covers heart disease, stroke and related health issues. Not all views expressed in American Heart Association News stories reflect the official position of the American Heart Association. Statements, conclusions, accuracy and reliability of studies published in American Heart Association scientific journals or presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the American Heart Associations official guidance, policies or positions.

Copyright is owned or held by the American Heart Association, Inc., and all rights are reserved. Permission is granted, at no cost and without need for further request, for individuals, media outlets, and non-commercial education and awareness efforts to link to, quote, excerpt or reprint from these stories in any medium as long as no text is altered and proper attribution is made to American Heart Association News.

Other uses, including educational products or services sold for profit, must comply with the American Heart Associations Copyright Permission Guidelines. See full terms of use. These stories may not be used to promote or endorse a commercial product or service.

You May Like: Heart Attack Signs Men

Stroke Prevention Can Start Today Protect Yourself And Avoid Stroke Regardless Of Your Age Or Family History

What can you do to prevent stroke? Age makes us more susceptible to having a stroke, as does having a mother, father, or other close relative who has had a stroke.

You can’t reverse the years or change your family history, but there are many other stroke risk factors that you can controlprovided that you’re aware of them. Knowledge is power. If you know that a particular risk factor is sabotaging your health and predisposing you to a higher risk of stroke, you can take steps to alleviate the effects of that risk.

Warning Signs Of Possible Stroke

There are several warning signs of possible stroke:

Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or difficulty understanding others
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

You May Like: What Is The Heart Rate Of A Heart Attack

Can High Levels Of Stress Lead To A Heart Attack

Chronic stress leads to increased inflammation and, thus, elevated risk of heart attack and stroke.

The fight or flight response was extremely useful when humans were hunter-gathers trying to escape from the saber-toothed tiger. Once safety was assured, stress chemicals rapidly returned down to normal levels.

However, the stress of modern-day living has created a chronic low-grade fight or flight response, whereby stress chemicals stay elevated. This leads to inflammation, weight gain, poor eating habits, and elevated blood pressure, all creating a milieu ripe for heart attacks.

What Are The Heart Disease Risk Factors That I Cannot Change

How do statins prevent heart attacks and strokes?

Age. Your risk of heart disease increases as you get older. Men age 45 and older and women age 55 and older have a greater risk.
Sex. Some risk factors may affect heart disease risk differently in women than in men. For example, estrogen provides women some protection against heart disease, but diabetes raises the risk of heart disease more in women than in men.
Race or ethnicity. Certain groups have higher risks than others. African Americans are more likely than whites to have heart disease, while Hispanic Americans are less likely to have it. Some Asian groups, such as East Asians, have lower rates, but South Asians have higher rates.
Family history. You have a greater risk if you have a close family member who had heart disease at an early age.

Don’t Miss: On Bypass Heart Surgery

What Is A Stroke

A stroke, or brain attack, happens when blood flow to your brain isstopped. It is an emergency situation.

The brain needs a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients in order to workwell. If blood supply is stopped even for a short time, this can causeproblems. Brain cells begin to die after just a few minutes without bloodor oxygen.

When brain cells die, brain function is lost. You may not be able to dothings that are controlled by that part of the brain. For example, a strokemay affect your ability to:

Control your bowel and bladder
Control your emotions
Control other vital body functions

A stroke can happen to anyone at any time.

Have Someone Call An Ambulance

If others are around, tell them to stay with you until emergency medical services workers arrive. Calling 911 is usually the fastest way to get emergency care, as opposed to asking someone to drive you to a hospital in their car. EMS workers are trained to revive people experiencing heart attacks and can also transport you to the hospital for rapid care.

If youre in a public space such as a store, school, library, or workplace, theres a good chance theres a defibrillator on hand.

A defibrillator is the kind of device EMS workers use to revive people who are experiencing heart attacks. If youre still conscious at the onset of your heart attack, instruct someone nearby to find the closest defibrillator. Defibrillators come with easy-to-use instructions, so its possible for a non-EMS worker to revive you if the heart attack strikes.