WELLNESS
Don’t let stroke strike your family twice
Not all strokes can be
prevented, but making
healthy lifestyle choices,
like exercising, eating right,
maintaining a healthy weight
and treating conditions
such as high blood sugar,
cholesterol and blood pressure
can help reduce your risk of
another one.
While there are about 7.2
million stroke survivors in
the United States, people who
have had a stroke are at high
risk of having another one. In
fact, about one in every four
stroke survivors will have a
second one.
Efforts like Together to
End Stroke, an American
Stroke Association initiative,
nationally sponsored by
Bayer Aspirin, work to
educate stroke survivors and
caregivers about how they can
avoid a second occurrence.
Because the consequences
of a second stroke can be more
detrimental than the first, it’s
important to recognize the
signs, which come on suddenly,
and act quickly. An easy way to
remember the most common
warning signs is the acronym
F.A.S.T., (F - face drooping,
A - arm weakness, S - speech
difficulty, T - time to call 911).
Talk to your doctor about
medications that may help you
with your stroke prevention
efforts. For example, taking
aspirin regularly or other blood
clot prevention medications
can help reduce the risk of
another ischemic stroke.
Consider following the
American Heart Association
and American Stroke
Association’s “Life’s Simple 7”
to achieve ideal health:
Don’t smoke. Smoking puts
you at higher risk for heart
disease and stroke. Quitting is
one of the best things you can
do to improve your health and
add years to your life.
Be physically active. A
good starting goal is at least
150 minutes of physical activity
a week, but if you don’t want to
sweat the numbers, just move
more.
Eat a healthy diet.
Healthy eating starts with
simple, healthy food choices.
You don’t need to stop eating
your favorite meals, just
use substitutions to make
them healthier.
Maintain a healthy
weight. The benefits of
maintaining a healthy weight
go beyond improved energy
and smaller clothing sizes. By
losing weight or maintaining
a healthy weight, you can
also reduce your risk of heart
disease and stroke.
Control cholesterol.
Having large amounts of lowdensity
lipoprotein cholesterol,
the bad cholesterol, in the blood
can cause build up and blood
clots, which can lead to heart
attack or stroke. Reducing
your fat intake, especially
trans fats, often found in fried
foods and baked goods, can
help reduce your cholesterol.
Manage blood pressure.
Nothing causes more strokes
than uncontrolled high blood
pressure. Of the 116.4 million
people in the United States
who have high blood pressure,
fewer than half have it under
control, putting them at
increased risk of stroke.
Control blood sugar. By
managing your diabetes and
working with your health
care team, you may reduce
your risk of stroke. Every
two minutes, an adult with
diabetes in the United States
is hospitalized for stroke.
For more information on
how to prevent stroke, and a
complete list of warning signs,
visit strokeassociation.org/
americanstrokemonth.
Courtesy Family Features
TIMESLEDGER,30 MAY 17-23, 2019 QNS.COM
/strokeassociation.org
/QNS.COM
