Westfield Health Bulletin: Diet, exercise may reduce stroke risk

Imagine that one Monday your mother hugged you, looked you in the eye like only a mother would, and told you she loved you. On Tuesday, she can’t remember your name.

Most people have been closely involved or have been on the verge of a stroke, drastically changing their world. One’s life before a stroke is gone in a second. Acts of everyday life that we take for granted become great challenges. Life will not be the same and much more difficult for the patient and their loved ones. Cognitive, emotional, and physical deficits interfere with daily life, relationships, and safety. The complications and consequences of leakage are overwhelming. The pain that family members go through watching, coping with, and helping their loved one as they struggle to have some quality of life is immense.

About 800,000 people have a stroke in the United States each year. The American Stroke Association estimates that 80% of strokes are preventable. Stroke leads to 160,000 deaths annually. A stroke or stroke is a blockage in the blood supply to the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain breaks. The blockage or rupture stops blood and oxygen from reaching the brain. Symptoms include paralysis, numbness or weakness in the arm, face, leg, trouble speaking or understanding, vision changes, dizziness, headaches, and more.

There are procedures, medications, rehab and other care to help someone after a stroke. Despite all these measures, your mother, father or other loved one is not the same person they were before the stroke. Preventing strokes is a much better plan than trying to repair the damage after a stroke.

It’s been a decade since the American Stroke Association revised its stroke reduction guidelines. Their guidelines parallel the American Heart Association’s “Life’s Essential 8” plan, which promotes heart and brain health. Those “8” include a focus on diet, sleep, weight, avoiding tobacco and alcohol, reducing stress, controlling blood pressure and cholesterol.

The recommendations include a directive to health professionals to closely screen for genetic predisposition, medications, comorbidities, drug and alcohol use, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes. The guidelines are gender specific and identify social determinants of stroke risk.

Women-specific risk factors include hormone use, high blood pressure during pregnancy, pregnancy complications such as preterm birth, endometriosis, premature ovarian failure, and early menopause. People of different sexes who take estrogen also have a higher risk of stroke.

Social determinants affecting health are seen as inequities in health care, education, economic stability, structural racism, and geographic factors such as the ability to walk safely on a daily basis and access to healthy food.

They support the newer use of GLP-1 drugs for cardiovascular health, balanced diet, physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight and getting regular sleep. A Mediterranean diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and heart-healthy fats is the diet of choice. Avoid processed foods, added sugars and refined grains.

Exercise recommendations are at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity spread throughout the week. Along with aerobic and anaerobic exercise, flexibility is also important. Recommended sleep: at least seven hours of sleep per night and no more than nine. Awareness and reduction of exposure to pollution are promoted. The ASA also calls for increased public awareness and education about reducing the risk of stroke.

A new addition to the guide are GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, Mounjaro, Zepbound and Wegovy. These highly touted weight loss and diabetes drugs have shown evidence of improving cardiovascular health and reducing the risk of stroke.

The odds are stacked in your favor with a statistic of 80% of strokes being preventable. Follow these recommendations in collaboration with your healthcare provider. Another day, another hug, another “I love you” is in the cards.

Take care of yourself and others.

Juanita Carnes is a Westfield resident and registered nurse with 38 years of experience in hospital emergency departments and urgent care facilities. She served 30 years on the Westfield Health Board.