stroke

Stroke Awareness Month – Diet and Healthy Lifestyle

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Link: As a stroke survivor, here are some diet and healthy life suggestions from Stroke.org

In addition to this last post for this month’s awareness series, I have three other links for you to visit:

Strokes in Young Adults (recent – Luke Perry and John Singleton)
John Singleton
Luke Perry

Stroke Awareness Month – Risk Factors

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There are many factors that go into whether or not you will have a stroke. The following list of risk factors, increased risk factors, and additional risk factors comes directly from the CDC (the Center for Disease Control).​

  • Race/ethnicity. African Americans have almost two times the risk of white people of having a first stroke. Hispanic Americans and American Indian/Alaska Natives are at greater risk than whites are for having a stroke but are at less risk than African Americans. African Americans and Hispanics are more likely than whites to die after having a stroke.
  • Age. Stroke risk increases with age. Three-quarters of strokes occur in people ages 65 and older.
  • Geography. The highest U.S. death rates from stroke occur in the southeastern United States.
  • Gender. Men are more likely than women to have a stroke.

Certain lifestyle factors and conditions also increase the risk for stroke. The most important of these include:

  • High blood pressure
  • Diabetes
  • Heart disease (such as atrial fibrillation)
  • Previous stroke or transient ischemic attack
  • Cigarette smoking

Additional risk factors include:

  • Physical inactivity
  • Overweight or obesity
  • High cholesterol
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Drinking too much alcohol
  • Family history of stroke
  • Drug abuse
  • Genetic conditions, such as blood-clotting or vascular disorders (for example, Factor V Leiden or CADASIL)
  • Certain medications (such as hormonal birth control pills)
  • Being pregnant
  • Menopause

Lesser risk factors include:

  • Head and neck injuries
  • Recent viral or bacterial infections



    National Stroke Awareness Month

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    May is National Stroke Awareness Month. According to the National Institute of Health, 795,000 people in the US have strokes. Of those, 137,000 die. The vast majority are first strokes. Survivors will have another stroke within five years.

    In this first of four posts, the main thing I want to get out to you are the signs of a stroke. One easy way to remember is the word FAST, which stands for FACE, ARMS, SPEECH, TIME.

    Stroke Awareness Month

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    In 2013, at age 43, actor and musician Rob Benedict suffered a stroke at a fan convention in Toronto, Ontario. Thanks to the quck thinking of his Supernatural co-stars, Richard Speight, Jr., and Misha Collins, he was given medical help and is now doing very well, back to touring with Louden Swain, writing scripts and songs, and performing at Supernatural fan conventions across the world.

    He has brought attention to the symptoms of stroke since then.

    The acronym to remember is FAST:

    Click picture to be taken to Stroke.org’s website. Their copyright. (c)2018

    Get the word out

    Click picture to be taken to the National Stroke Association.