Prevention

Stroke PreventionThere are steps you can take to prevent a stroke by knowing stroke risk factors and taking on a healthy lifestyle. Also if you have had a stroke or TIA, the steps below could help prevent another from occurring. Below are ways of how to prevent a stroke.

Blood Pressure

Keep control of your blood pressure is a significant way to reduce your chance of a stroke. Generally a normal blood pressure should be between 120 over 80 to 140 over 90. Ways to keep it under control are regular exercise; manage your stress levels, keeping a healthy weight and keeping salt and alcohol consumption low. As well as these lifestyle changes, your doctor may prescribe you medications for treatment such as calcium channel blockers and diuretics. For these medications to fully work, you would have to take your doctor’s advice and keep taking regularly.

Diet

Improving your diet and adopting a new healthy eating habit will greatly reduce the risk of a stroke. You will want to avoid foods that are high in saturated fats and cholesterol. This can be done by reducing the oil added when cooking, using low fat dairy foods, bake or boil your food rather than in a fryer and trim fat from meats. Also eating fruit and vegetables five times a day may reduce risk of a stroke.

Reducing your salt intake will reduce your high blood pressure as it’s highly linked to hypertension. Eat fresh food when you can as canned and processed food contain hidden salts.than in a fryer and trim fat from meats. Also eating fruit and vegetables five times a day may reduce risk of a stroke.

Lowering your alcohol level and drinking in moderation is a good stroke prevention measure. Binge drinkers are at an increased risk of a stroke due to a higher blood pressure and this includes older and younger people.

Exercise and Smoking

Regular exercise for stroke patients will keep the excess weight off, lower blood pressure and reduce levels of atherosclerosis. As stroke is a cardiovascular disease, it will also improve cardiovascular health such as your heart and blood vessels. Always consult with your doctor first before starting an exercise regime. Try and work your way up gradually to 20 to 30 minutes of exercise a day, such as in the form of walking, jogging, bike rides, aerobics and swimming.

Stopping smoking can greatly reduce your risk of having a stroke even with other risk factors such as high blood pressure, heart disease and age. It will also reduce the risk of non-smokers due to second hand smoke and after a few years a former smoker will be the same risk for a stroke as a non-smoker.

All of the above is good advice on how to avoid a stroke, but medical checks should be carried out routinely to check for risks such as high blood pressure, heart disease and cholesterol level. If a problem is found, then this can be controlled by treating it medically and making new lifestyle changes.