rhagic strokes tend to have worse outcomes than ischemic strokes (a hemorrhagic stroke, for example, is what felled Ariel Sharon), although any form of stroke can lead to severe debility and death.
....Why can strokes be so debilitating? Because we don’t yet know how to re-grow brain tissue, so when some of your brain dies in a stroke, everything that that part of the brain governs dies with it. Thus, you might, for example, lose the use of the limbs on one side of your body. Or you might lose the ability to talk properly or to understand speech. Or you might end up with dementia. Or in the worst cases, of course, you might die.
....So, now that I’ve scared the pants off you (even those of you not wearing pants), you might be wondering what you can do to lower your risk of getting a stroke.
....Well, I’m sure it won’t surprise many of my constant readers to learn that the risk factors for stroke are very similar to the risk factors for heart attacks (and dementia, and diabetes, and . .. . ), and that most of those are actually under your own control.
....Thus, for strokes, the two most important risk factors are advancing age (there’s not much you can do about that, at least not much that I would advise you to do) and high blood pressure (you can, however, generally control that pretty easily), although smoking, excess weight, abnormal cholesterol levels, a sedentary lifestyle, excess alcohol intake, and a poor family history also play a significant role for many people, as do certain abnormal heart rhythms.
....So, here’s the first vital point of awareness about strokes that I want you to note: many, perhaps the majority of strokes, are preventable, if only, if only, if only, the stroke victim had followed a healthier lifestyle. And before you turn the page to go on to the next article with a comment to your partner that “hey, Helga, I just can’t change my life the way that moron Hister wants because I’m (take your pick) too old, too set, too bored, etc.”, you should know that in a recent study of 810 people with significantly elevated blood pressures, “people (in this study) were able to maintain multiple lifestyle modifications” for at least 18 months once they decided to go that route. So hey, George, it can be done. But clearly, first, you gotta wanna do it.
But before this column turns into a lecture on healthier lifestyles (my 27-year-old son claims that I’ve always turned everything into a lecture on healthier lifestyles, although clearly, it couldn’t be that big a deal because he still hasn’t moved out), let’s turn our attentions to a few other crucial aspects of stroke awareness.
....First, I want you all to memorize the following symptoms. Right now.
• Sudden numbness or weakness, especially on
..one
side of the body
• Sudden confusion
• Sudden vision problems in one or both eyes
• Sudden difficulty walking, dizziness, loss of
..balance or
coordination
• Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
• Sudden difficulty speaking or understanding speech
....OK, read that list again and again and again till you can repeat it without looking.
....Then, if you ever get any of these symptoms, or if you notice someone else is suffering them, drop everything and phone 911. I repeat: do not call sweet, know-it-all Aunt Marge for advice, do not finish your next bite of. |
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