Time is of the essence when someone suffers a stroke in order to avoid long term effects. There are a lot of risk factors lingering for some people that should be a red flag, so it's important to identify and intervene these risks in order to prevent a future stroke.
Dr. Diana Bitner and Dr. Muhib Khan continue the discussion on how to lower the risk of stroke.
A stroke is an acute injury to brain tissue from either bleeding or blockage of blood vessels. People are more at risk of a stroke if they have the following:
- High blood pressure
- Smoking
- High cholesterol
- Diabetes (2x risk)
- Carotid artery blockage
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Age > 80
- Race (black > white)
- Sex (male > female)
- Family History
However, it's not too late to fight the chance of having a stroke if a person has any of those conditions. People can prevent stroke or lower their risk through the following:
- Weight loss
- Exercise
- Control of blood pressure
- Blood-thinning medications
- Statin medication to lower cholesterol
- Control of blood sugar
- Treatment of diabetes
- Stop smoking
- Limit alcohol
- Healthy Diet: low sugar, and saturated fat (low in meat and white potatoes)
Dr. Bitner's office is located at 3800 Lake Michigan Drive Northwest, Suite A. To schedule an appointment with her, call (616)-267-8225.
Read more stories like this on Dr. Bitner's Blog.
