Stroke and Heart Disease - How To Reduce Risks

A stroke is often called a brain attack, which is just as severe and life threatening as a heart attack. Most often, a stroke is due to a blockage of a blood vessel in the brain, which stops blood flow to a particular area. This type of stroke is called an ischemic stroke.

If a stroke occurs when a blood vessel or aneurysms in the brain bust causing bleeding into the brain, it is called a hemorrhagic stroke.

Stroke is related to heart disease because deterioration of blood vessels can cause both conditions. In atherosclerosis, plaques (composed of hardened fat and cholesterol) could build up on the arterial walls of the arteries leading to the brain. When the plaques narrow down or block the blood vessels, it can reduce or stop oxygen supply and blood flow to the brain. This is a thrombotic stroke.

Another type of stroke called embolic stroke occurs when a blood clot somewhere in the body breaks off, travels through the bloodstream and then cuts off blood flow to the brain.

A non-fatal stroke can result to serious brain damage with the following observable effects: paralysis, loss of speech, problems with thinking and loss of memory.

Can stroke be prevented?

Depending on the type of stroke, you can do something to prevent it. Ask your doctor about it first as some things can prevent a certain type of stroke while worsening another.

The following are things you can do to prevent all kinds of stroke:

• Keep your blood pressure normal.
A high blood pressure contributes to arterial spasm and increases the risk of thrombotic stroke. If blood pressure is too high, it can push a blood clot in the heart valve to the brain's circulatory system, causing an embolic stroke.

In a completely different way, high blood pressure can cause hemorrhagic strokes. If there is a weakness in the walls of any part of the circulatory system leading to the brain, high blood pressure can open up that weak spot, resulting in bleeding as seen in a hemorrhagic stroke.

•Maintain a normal cholesterol.
Cholesterol contributes to the formation of plaques that lead to a thrombotic stroke. By maintaining a good level of cholesterol, you avoid the buildup of the plaques and there will be less chances of forming a blood clot in the arteries. So, eat foods that are low in cholesterol or take medications for lowering cholesterol. 

•Stop smoking
Smoking could raise your blood pressure, increasing the risk of all kinds of strokes. Smoking also contributes to plaque formation in the walls of the blood vessels so that the risk of thrombotic stroke increases. The longer you smoke, the greater is the risk of developing all kinds of heart disease, including that of thrombotic stroke.

• Have a baby aspirin.
Baby aspirin is a common medication for preventing the recurrence of heart attack in patients who already had a heart attack. As a platelet inhibitor, aspirin blocks the sticking together of platelets to form a blood clot. In the same way, aspirin can work to prevent thrombotic and embolic strokes.

Living a healthy lifestyle such as keeping normal blood pressure and blood cholesterol level and quitting smoking is very important. It will go a long way toward reducing the incidence of all kinds of strokes.

If you are concerned about stroke, see your doctor and get a full physical and relevant screenings to be sure you remain in optimal health.