Preventing Strokes And Heart Attacks

Aim For A Healthy Weight

Obesity is highly prevalent in America, not only for adults but also for children. Fad diets and supplements are not the answer. Good nutrition, controlling calorie intake and physical activity are the only way to maintain a healthy weight. Obesity places you at risk for high cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance, a precursor of type 2 diabetes the very factors that heighten your risk of cardiovascular disease. Your Body Mass Index can help tell you if your weight is healthy.

Preventing 1 Million Heart Attacks And Strokes

Middle-aged adults are being hard hit

About 16 million heart attacks, strokes, and related heart-threatening events* could happen by 2022.

1 in 3 of these life-changing cardiovascular events happened in adults 35-64 years old in 2016.

80% of premature heart disease and strokes are preventable.

Heart attacks and strokes can be catastrophic, life-changing events that are all too common. Heart disease and stroke are preventable, yet they remain leading causes of death, disability, and healthcare spending in the US. Alarmingly, many of these events happen to adults ages 35-64over 800,000 in 2016. Million Hearts® is a national initiative with a network of partners focused on preventing one million heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular events by 2022. Coordinated actions by public health and healthcare professionals, communities, and healthcare systems can and will keep people healthy, optimize care, and improve outcomes within priority populations.

Healthcare professionals and systems can:

* Deaths, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits due to heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular conditions like heart failure that could be prevented if Million Hearts 2022 actions are taken.

Adults who are physically inactive.

What Is The Link Between Diabetes Heart Disease And Stroke

High blood glucose from diabetes can damage your blood vessels and the nerves that control your heart and blood vessels. Over time, this damage can lead to heart disease.1

People with diabetes tend to develop heart disease at a younger age than people without diabetes. Adults with diabetes are nearly twice as likely to have heart disease or stroke as adults without diabetes.2,3

The good news is that the steps you take to manage your diabetes also help lower your chances of having heart disease or stroke.

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Smoking And Secondhand Smoke Exposure

Smoking is a major cause of heart disease and stroke and causes 1 in every 4 deaths from these conditions. Smoking can damage the body several ways by:

• Raising triglycerides and lowering high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, also called good cholesterol.
• Making blood sticky and more likely to clot, which can block blood flow to the heart and brain.
• Damaging cells that line the blood vessels.
• Increasing the buildup of plaque in blood vessels.
• Causing thickening and narrowing of blood vessels.

About 34 million US adults smoke cigarettes, and every day, about 1,600 young people under age 18 try their first cigarette.

CDCs Response

CDCs Office on Smoking and Health is at the forefront of the nations efforts to reduce deaths and prevent chronic diseases that result from commercial* tobacco use, including heart disease and stroke. OSH prioritizes health equity by creating resources and opportunities for all people to be as healthy as possible.

CDC and its partners promote efforts to:

• Prevent young people from starting to use tobacco.
• Promote quitting among adults and young people.
• Reduce peoples exposure to secondhand smoke.
• Advance health equity by identifying and eliminating tobacco-related disparities.

Tips connects people who smoke with resources to help them quit, including 1-800-QUIT-NOW, which directs people to free services from their state quitlines.

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:

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Stay Active And Quit Smoking

Good lifestyle habits can keep your health on track. Regular, moderate-to-intense exercise is key to reducing cardiovascular disease risk. Be active for 30 minutes or more on most or all days of the week. If you smoke, quit. Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the U.S. and contributes to heart disease and stroke. Use our tips to improve your chances of quitting smoking for good.

Taking Aspirin May Help

Taking aspirin every day may lower your chance of having a heart attack. The recommended dose is 81 milligrams a day. Do not take aspirin in this way without talking to your doctor first. Ask your doctor about taking an aspirin every day if:

• You are a man over 50 or a woman over 60
• You have had heart problems
• People in your family have had heart problems
• You have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels
• You are a smoker

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Lower High Blood Pressure

Its a major risk factor for stroke a leading cause of disability in the United States. Stroke recovery is difficult at best and you could be disabled for life. Shake that salt habit, take your medications as recommended by your doctor and get moving. Those numbers need to get down and stay down. An optimal blood pressure reading is less than 120/80 mmHg.

Critical Steps To Help Prevent A Stroke

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If there’s one good thing that can be said of strokes, it’s this: The vast majority of them don’t need to happen.

Up to 80% of strokes can be prevented through healthy lifestyle changes and working with health care practitioners to control stroke risk factors. Researchers have identified numerous steps people can take to lower stroke risk, but health experts agree, trying to do them all at once can feel overwhelming.

“The biggest mistake people make is they are overly ambitious, and then they fail and give up,” said Dr. Vladimir Hachinski, a Canadian neurologist and global expert in the field of stroke. “You have to start small.”

The rewards are enormous, said Dr. Cheryl Bushnell, a neurologist and director of the Comprehensive Stroke Center at Wake Forest Baptist Health in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It’s “not just for preventing stroke, but for preventing dementia as well. You can do the same things to prevent both. You are killing two birds with one stone.”

Here are five ways to get started on the road to prevention.

If you smoke, quit

Studies show that for every five cigarettes a person smokes each day, the risk of having a stroke goes up by 12%. For Black adults, smoking cigarettes more than doubles the risk of stroke compared to never smoking, a 2020 study found.

Move more

Keep blood pressure under control

Eat a healthy diet

“One of the most subtle things that happens to people as they get older is they put on weight,” Hachinski said.

Start early

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Avoid A Heart Attack Or Stroke: 10 Foods To Never Ignore

Avoiding a heart attack or a stroke can be as easy as knowing what foods to eat. Nutritionists and doctors have been compiling the most heart healthy foods that anyone can eat. Its not too early to start eating foods that will help you take care of your heart. If youre getting older, its also very important to make sure youre eating the right kind of foods to make sure your heart stays strong.

According to recent research by the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the future health of the global population largely depends on a shift to healthier dietary patterns. Taking care of our hearts and avoiding a heart attack or stroke is as easy as looking for the right foods to eat.

You cant afford to get sick, and you cant depend on the present health care system to keep you well. Its up to you to protect and maintain your bodys innate capacity for health and healing by making the right choices in how you live. Andrew Weil

Am I At Risk For Stroke

The number one risk factor for stroke is high blood pressure. High blood pressure has no signs or symptoms, so its important to get your blood pressure checked regularly.

Ask your doctor how often you need to get your blood pressure checked. You can also ask whether measuring your blood pressure at home is right for you.

Other risk factors for stroke include:

• An irregular heartbeat
• High cholesterol

You are at higher risk of having a stroke as you get older. You may also be more at risk if someone in your family has had a stroke. Make sure you know your familys medical history and share it with your doctor.

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Get All The Information You Need To Follow This Dietary Pattern Proven To Protect Your Cardiovascular Health

Heart disease remains the number one cause of death in the U.S. The DASH eating plan has been proven to help control two of the major cardiovascular disease risk factorshigh blood pressure and high blood levels of LDL cholesterol. Whether you want to reverse high blood pressure and high LDL cholesterol, or prevent them, this article will provide the information you need to get started.

The Basics. The DASH diet requires no special foods or calorie counting. Instead, it provides general daily and weekly intake goals to ensure you get plenty of foods rich in certain beneficial nutrients and not a lot of saturated fat, sodium, or added sugars. It is easy to tailor the specific foods you choose to your personal preferences and lifestyle.

The basic DASH diet is higher than the typical American diet in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products and lower in total fat, saturated fat, and dietary cholesterol. Variations on this diet that are lower in sodium, replace some carbohydrates with protein, or replace some carbs with unsaturated fats have proven to be at least as effective, and often more so. The results of several landmark studies suggest specific actions we can take to follow a DASH-style diet proven to reduce risk for cardiovascular disease by lowering blood pressure and LDL cholesterol levels. See Research-Based Actions for the details of these studies, and what they mean for you.

Keep A Healthy Weight

Having overweight or obesity increases your risk for stroke. To determine whether your weight is in a healthy range, doctors often calculate your body mass index . If you know your weight and height, you can calculate your BMI at CDCs Assessing Your Weight website. Doctors sometimes also use waist and hip measurements to measure excess body fat.

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Encouraging Eating Despite Low Appetite After A Stroke

In addition to difficulty chewing and swallowing, stroke patients may find eating difficult due to a lack of appetite. Here are a few ways family caregivers can make sure their loved ones eat:

• Pay attention to what foods the stroke patient finds most palatable. Your loved one recovering from a stroke will be most likely to eat their favorite foods as long as they can chew and swallow them. Try to serve the most nutrition-dense foods that are delicious to your loved one. More information about specific foods is covered in the next section.
• Set specific times for meals to form a routine. Sharing mealtime with your loved one will also help to make the activity more social and enjoyable. Be patient, and do not rush your loved one to finish eating.
• Serve food when your loved one has the most energy. This is typically earlier in the day.
• Encourage the patient to eat higher calorie and more substantial, nutrient-dense foods first.

Brain Basics: Preventing Stroke

If you’re like most Americans, you plan your future. When you take a job, you examine its benefit plan. When you buy a home, you consider its location and condition so that your investment is safe. Today, more and more Americans are protecting their most important assettheir brain. Are you?

Stroke ranks as the fourth leading killer in the United States. A stroke can be devastating to individuals and their families, robbing them of their independence. It is the most common cause of adult disability. Each year approximately 795,000 Americans have a stroke, with about 160,000 dying from stroke-related causes. Officials at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke are committed to reducing that burden through biomedical research.

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Nutritional Supplements For Stroke Recovery

• Potassium: Potassium controls blood pressure and may result in a better outcome after a stroke. Bananas, which can be easily eaten when pureed, are rich in potassium.
• Omega-3: Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish and a variety of other natural sources, but they can also be consumed as a supplement. Omega-3 is linked to both stroke prevention and stroke recovery.
• Vitamin B3: Studies suggest that Vitamin B3, found in high levels in turkey and other natural sources, can help recover brain function after a stroke.
• Coenzyme Q10 : CoQ10 is an antioxidant that protects body tissues including brain tissues damaged by a stroke.

It is essential to check with a doctor about supplements used during stroke recovery. Certain vitamins and supplements may interfere with medications. For instance, if your loved one is taking a blood thinner, supplements with blood-thinning properties can cause complications. An example of this is ginkgo biloba, which is sometimes recommended for stroke patients due to its positive impact on cognitive function but must be used with caution along with medications.

Prevent Stroke: Protect Two Tablespoons Of Olive Oil Daily

If you consume around 15 grams of uncooked olive oil every day, you can effectively prevent a stroke.

Suffering from a stroke is tragic especially because in many cases it could be avoided.

How you can do a lot: reduce risk factors for a stroke and eat healthy foods that prevent hardening of the arteries.

Olive oil is one of the most healthy foods.

Olive oil consists largely of monounsaturated fatty acids, primarily oleic acid.

This is an omega-9 fatty acid that has a positive effect on cholesterol levels and heart health,” as

Ökotest

quotes the certified ecotrophologist Dagmar von Cramm.

“Because it can lower the harmful LDL cholesterol – a blood fat that tends to clog the arteries,” the nutritionist continues.

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How Is A Stroke Treated

Your healthcare provider will create a care plan for you based on:

• Your age, overall health, and past health

• The type of stroke you had

• How severe your stroke was

• Where in your brain the stroke happened

• What caused your stroke

• How well you handle certain medicines, treatments, or therapies

• Your opinion or preference

There is no cure for stroke once it has occurred. But advanced medical andsurgical treatments are available. These can help reduce your risk foranother stroke.

Treatment is most effective when started right away. Emergency treatmentafter a stroke may include:

• Clot-busting medicines . These medicines dissolve the blood clots that cause an ischemic stroke. They can help reduce the damage to brain cells caused by the stroke. To be most effective, they must be given within 3 hours of a stroke occurring.

• Medicines and therapy to reduce or control brain swelling. Special types of IV fluids are often used to help reduce or control brain swelling. They are used especially after a hemorrhagic stroke.

• Neuroprotective medicines. These medicines help protect the brain from damage and lack of oxygen .

• Life support measures. These treatments include using a machine to help you breathe , having IV fluids, getting proper nutrition, and controlling your blood pressure.

• Craniotomy. This is a type of brain surgery that is done to remove blood clots, relieve pressure, or repair bleeding in the brain.

What Should A Balanced Diet Look Like

Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain, according to the NHS

Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables count

Base meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally wholegrain

30 grams of fibre a day: This is the same as eating all of the following: 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat cereal biscuits, 2 thick slices of wholemeal bread and large baked potato with the skin on

Have some dairy or dairy alternatives choosing lower fat and lower sugar options

Eat some beans, pulses, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins

Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consuming in small amounts

Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water a day

Adults should have less than 6g of salt and 20g of saturated fat for women or 30g for men a day

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