Preventing Stroke
Am I Experiencing Stroke?
Depending on the area of the brain which is affected by stroke, the symptoms usually develop suddenly and without warning. However, in some cases the person may not know that he/she has suffered the stroke. Also, the number of impaired brain functions depends upon the extent of area damaged by the event.
- You may feel headache, especially if the stroke is caused by bleeding in the brain.
- The headache starts suddenly and may be severe. It may happen when you are lying flat and if you are asleep the headache is likely to wake you up.
- Also, the headache gets worse by any exertion, even in the form of bending, coughing or changing positions.
- You may feel a change in your alertness, i.e., there may be sleepiness, unconsciousness or even coma.
- There may be sensory symptoms such as change in hearing, taste or touch and the ability to feel pressure, pain or temperature variation.
- Clumsiness, confusion or loss of memory, difficulty in writing or reading, dizziness or vertigo.
- Lack of control over bladder or bowel movement, loss of balance and co-ordination, muscle weakness in face.
- Arm or leg and numbness or tingling (usually on one side only).
- Decreased vision, double vision or total loss of vision.
- Slurry speech and difficulty comprehending others’ speaking.
- apart from trouble in walking are considered some of the standard symptoms of a stroke.
Can It be Prevented?
Some of the risk factors that cannot be changed include:
- Age – risk of stroke increases with age.
- Gender – men are more vulnerable to heart disease than women, except the aged.
- Genes and race – a family history of stroke increases the risk for the disease. Also certain races are more vulnerable to the disease than certain others.
- Defect in artery walls or abnormalities in arteries and veins.
- During and after pregnancy.
However the steps that you can take to prevent the occurrence of stroke are:
- Quit smoking.
- Reduce cholesterol levels by controlling diet, exercise and medication if necessary.
- Reduce blood pressure by controlling diet, exercise and medication if necessary.
- Controlling diabetes through diet, exercise and medication if necessary.
- Maintaining body weight.
- Limiting or avoiding alcohol consumption.
- Reducing the consumption of fatty foods or avoiding it altogether.
- Consuming food rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
- Consuming lean protein rich diet like chicken, fish, legumes and beans.
- Reducing or avoiding salt and fried, processed or baked food.
- Reducing consumption of dairy products such as cream, cheese or eggs.
Apart from all these a knowledge of one’s health status through regular screening in the form of CT scan, MRI or related tests helps in knowing one’s heart condition which is crucial as far as the possibility of stroke is concerned.
Every healthy individual should have an annual brain stroke checkup, Get brain stroke checkup done today at special checkup centres in Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Nashik, Goa, Solapur, Bhilai, Vapi, Jalgaon, Belgaum & More cities
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