Stroke Prevention: Lifestyle Changes and Risk Management
Obesity can also be a result of this sedentary lifestyle and is a significant risk factor for stroke. The harmful effects of smoking and alcohol can never be over-emphasized, and this has been implicated in countless diseases affecting our human body besides stroke.
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FollowA stroke, like a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply to the brain is disturbed, resulting in the rapid and permanent death of brain cells or neurones in a time-dependent way. The blood supply can be restored for a limited duration, i.e. a few hours, to save these cells. However, the majority of patients arrive at the hospital after these precious hours, resulting in irreparable neuronal death and lifelong impairment. Prevention is the most effective strategy to manage this wild problem.
The good thing is by treating a few co-morbidities, we can reduce the chances of a stroke happening. These are diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure or hypertension, and high cholesterol, which can be kept under check with regular support and advice with the help of doctors. The increasing trend of these diseases in our population is due to the Western lifestyle being adopted by our population.
Besides, other risk factors are directly a result of increasingly adopting harmful habits like a sedentary lifestyle, where sitting throughout the day, mainly seen by software professionals and doctors, is associated with an increased risk of having stroke and heart attacks. Encouraging and rewarding our youth for physical activities like walking, jogging, swimming, running, and playing any physical sports goes a long way in mitigating this risk.
Obesity can also be a result of this sedentary lifestyle and is a significant risk factor for stroke. The harmful effects of smoking and alcohol can never be over-emphasized, and this has been implicated in countless diseases affecting our human body besides stroke. Complete and immediate cessation is the key to secondary prevention, i.e., preventing a re-stroke. Any factor that adversely affects our heart’s health also indirectly increases the risk of stroke. This emphasizes the importance of visiting the cardiologist and following his advice regularly. It is said that ‘we are what we consume’.
Eating healthy Indian foods, including a diet rich in fruits and vegetables and avoiding fast foods, is an essential lifestyle choice to keep bad heart and brain health at bay. These foods keep our blood vessels or arteries healthy by positively contributing to controlling blood pressure and cholesterol, hence diminishing our chances of stroke. The health of our brain, which controls all our activities, is in our hands, and by adopting a healthy lifestyle, we can keep it healthy.
Dr Aakash Agrawal, Consultant Neurology, Manipal Hospital Bhubaneswar
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