7 Steps to Reduce Stroke Risk
By: Bill Gottlieb
- Swallow Nature's Blood Thinner
- Swig Less Soda
- Count to 3
- Hold Your Breath
- Beat Homocysteine
- Pick Up an Iron Supplement
- Never Miss Another Flu Shot
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But the latter is a likely scenario if you're one of approximately 600,000 Americans who will have a stroke this year.
"Your chance of dying is 20 percent-but you have a 40 percent chance of being disabled and a 25 percent chance of being severely disabled," says David Spence, M.D., director of the stroke-prevention center at the Robarts Research Institute in Canada.
An ischemic stroke—the kind that affects most men—occurs when an artery to the brain is blocked by arterial plaque that has broken loose and caused a blood clot. In fact, it's just like a heart attack, only instead of heart cells dying for lack of blood, brain cells are kicking off-thousands of brain cells. Perhaps paralyzing half of your body. Or slurring your speech. Or plunging you into senility.
But a "brain attack" is not inevitable.
"Fifty to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented," says David Wiebers, M.D., a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic and author of Stroke-Free for Life. "Making the simple choices at 25, 35, or 45 years of age can make an enormous difference in preventing stroke when you're in your 60s, 70s, or 80s."
Strike back at stroke with these seven strategies.