Stroke Prevention

Leading a healthy lifestyle is important for stroke prevention. If you've already had a stroke and are aiming to prevent a subsequent one, or if you have never had one, this information is relevant. I bet that every person who has had a stroke wishes that they had heeded this advice.

Health-related Indicators

The following symptoms can be early warning signs that you are susceptible to stroke:

• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Sleep apnoea.

Lifestyle-related Indicators

The following lifestyle factors can predispose you to stroke:

• Cigarette smoking - doubles or quadruples the risk of stroke
• Heaving drinking - triples the risk of stroke
• Low fibre, high fat diet
• Lack of exercise
• Use of birth control pills.

Clearly, effective stroke prevention involves careful management of these lifestyle behaviours.

Stroke Prevention Advice

Some sensible, healthy behaviours for stroke prevention are listed below.

See your doctor regularly for check ups of the following:

• Blood pressure
• Cholesterol levels (you will need to fast before this)
• Blood sugar levels.

Maintain a healthy diet. A health diet:

• Is high in fibre
• Is low in saturated fats
• Limits the amount of salt you use in cooking and on your food
• Limits your alcoholic intake to recommended levels (no more than two standard drinks for a female and four standard drinks for a male; and have at least two alcohol free days per week)
• Focuses on fresh food over processed food
• Avoids sugary and fatty foods.

Make sure that you get enough exercise. A good pointer is to do 30 minutes of exercise around five times a week. Walking is a simple and pleasant activity that most of us can do. There are also a range of exercise classes aimed at people of all ages. It is easier to exercise with someone else as the peer pressure can give you the added incentive to actually do it. Appropriate exercise is an important contributor to stroke prevention.

A good source for more information on strategies to help you age well and live a long and active life can be found at Age-well.org Live Younger Longer - this site has information about strategies to age well and live a long, active life. These include eating well, exercising regularly, looking after ones body, and giving up habits detrimental to health. Informs on age-related diseases and prevention, keeping mind and brain alert, and looking younger.