Make Stroke Prevention a Top Priority

-
Riddle: What could your credit card airline miles and your hard-earned vacation days possibly have in common with stopping a stroke? Answer: A strict "use it or lose it" policy applies to all three. Getting your brain cells into gear now can prevent a brain attack later.
Strokes are so scary, most of us don't even want to think about them -- one big survey found you're three times more likely to worry about burglaries than this threat to your most important organ. (No, not that one. We mean your brain.) But a boatload of do-it-now recent research proves that knowledge = brain-saving power. Here's the stroke news YOU need to know:
  • Little choices help you sidestep big brain trouble. Turns out that plenty of "no big deal" decisions are a big deal -- like moving your hand 2 inches to the left when picking out canned beans in the supermarket, so you grab the type not soaked in salt. Or ordering the broiled trout instead of the fried. Or hopping on your exercise bike instead of the sofa when you're watching The Biggest Loser. Or saying, "Great!" when your kid/partner/best friend says, "Lets go see the latest Harry Potter movie . . . again!" (Close ties are healthy.)

  • Got any of these risks? Reverse them. No strokes on your family tree? Terrific, but you're not home free. Genes seem to play a smaller role in stroke than in heart attack. Focus instead on these big risks -- which are reversible: high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking (including secondhand smoke), off-beat heart rhythms, clogged arteries, even advancing age.
  • Get gold-standard brain care. It's out there. Clot-busting drugs save brain cells after an ischemic stroke (the most common type) if you get them within a few hours of a stroke's start. So if you spot early signs of a stroke (cut out our easy-to-remember "FAST" list below), get to a hospital that has a certified stroke center at siren speed. (Put the nearest hospital in your cell phone to show the EMT team.) Calling an ambulance and saying "Stroke!" can double or even quadruple the chances of getting to a stroke-certified hospital in time for clot busters to work their magic. Late arrival is a key reason few people -- just 1 in 25 -- who need them get these brain-saving drugs.
Convinced? Take these four steps:
  1. Think F-A-S-T. If you even vaguely suspect someone (you?) is having a stroke, act F-A-S-T. It's short for:
    • Face. Ask the person to smile (if it's you, look in a mirror). If one side droops, it could be a stroke.
    • Arms. Ask the person to raise them. If one arm drifts downward, it could be a stroke.
    • Speech. Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. If the speech is garbled or strange, it could be a stroke.
    • Time. See signs? Call 911 right away.
     
  2. Pinpoint the location of the best local stroke care. Today. As soon as you finish this column, go to www.strokecenter.org or www.stroke.org to find the nearest hospital with a certified stroke center. Getting to it increases your survival chances by 20%. Ambulances will usually go to a stroke center, but request it anyway when you call 911.
  3. Exercise slightly harder. Your brain likes it. Bumping up the intensity just a little can cut by 40% your odds of a "silent" stroke -- a whispered, brief brain attack that boosts your risk for the real thing fivefold. Silent strokes are super common: About 11% of people ages 55 to 65 and half of people over 80 have them. Signs include one side of your body feeling numb or weak for a few moments; a vision fade-out; or a few seconds when you can't understand what others are saying or can't make yourself understood. Tell your doc what you think happened; it could be a warning.
  4. Feed your brain smart foods. Just swapping olive oil for butter or creamy dressings could cut your stroke odds 41%. Choosing broiled or poached fish instead of fried fin food three times a week can lower them 30%. These two simple antistroke steps lower your blood pressure and lousy LDL cholesterol, cool inflammation, and discourage blood clots. Then, cut back on salt, which is practically fuel injected into fast food, restaurant fare, and many packaged foods. Eating lots of it increases your risk of the most common form of strokes.
Cut out this list and stick it on your fridge.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Low-Cal Game Day Snacks

-
Combine 1 month of holiday feasting with 1 football season of noshing on high-calorie snacks, and what have you got? Double the size in belly, hips, and thighs. But cheer up! We've got diet snack solutions to help. That's right. Game day food makeovers that look and taste like the originals. Your guests won't even know they're low in fat (and you'll stay in your skinny jeans till baseball season). Lite Wings: Cut the saturated fat and sodium with these cornmeal-crusted boneless buffalo wings. Serve them with a light blue-cheese dip. Pizza-to-go: For maximum calorie control, make it yourself. If convenience is a priority, order a thin-crust veggie pizza from Domino's, Pizza Hut, or Papa John's. All three can deliver a pizza that weighs in at less than 250 calories a slice. Chips and dip: Serve baked chips with a Greek-yogurt-based fat-free dip. At about 15 calories a tablespoon, you can have more than a handful.   Chocolate fix: Make y
Read More>>

Best Way to Stay Healthy? Call In Sick

-
Next time you get a sore throat and sniffles, here's what you need to do to avoid can't-get-out-of-bed misery later: stay home. Research shows that people who report to work sick are much more likely to get laid out flat by an even nastier bout of illness down the road. Sick at Work People who came to work sick at least six times within the previous year were 50 percent more likely to need extended sick leave later on -- as much as two or more weeks off within the next 18 months. Why is punching the clock when you're sick so bad? Researchers speculate that when people don't take time to rest and recuperate, the body gets more and more run down -- to the point where it can't keep a little illness from ballooning into big trouble.    Healthy Solution Okay, so sometimes you might feel like you really just don't have time to be sick. Or maybe you don't have the luxury of copious sick days. If you can swing it, stay home. But also try these
Read More>>

6 Reasons to Get a Flu Shot This Year

-
Did you decide to skip your flu shot this year? If so, you might want to rethink that. Here's why: Getting the shot is the single best way for nearly everyone to prevent the flu, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). So, what's stopping you? Here are 6 common excuses, and why you should reconsider: It's too late. It's true, getting a flu shot early in the season offers the best protection, but the shot is effective anytime, even if you wait until December. Flu activity typically peaks in January or February and can last as late as May. I'm healthy. The flu vaccine is especially important for high-risk people (pregnant women, young kids, older folks, and anyone with a compromised immune system), but the rest of us need it, too. Having the shot will prevent you from wasting precious vacation days or (worse!) going to work sick and sharing the virus with your coworkers. I had a flu shot last year. Smart move! Get ano
Read More>>

Adsense