More Stroke Prevention
You can help prevent stroke by making healthy lifestyle choices. A healthy lifestyle includes the following:
Healthy Diet Choosing healthy meal and snack options can help you avoid stroke and its complications. Be sure to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Eating foods low in saturated fats, trans fat, and cholesterol and high in fiber can help prevent high cholesterol. Limiting salt(http://www.cdc.gov/salt/index.htm) (sodium) in your diet also can lower your blood pressure. For more information on healthy diet and nutrition, see CDC’s Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Program Web site. Healthy Weight Being overweight or obese increases your risk for stroke. To determine whether your weight is in a healthy range, doctors often calculate your body mass index (BMI). If you know your |
Physical Activity
Physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower your cholesterol and blood pressure levels. For adults, the Surgeon General recommends 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise, like brisk walking or bicycling, every week. Children and adolescents should get 1 hour of physical activity every day. For more information, see CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Web site. No Smoking Cigarette smoking greatly increases your risk for stroke. If you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do smoke, quitting will lower your risk for stroke. Your doctor can suggest ways to help you quit. For more information about tobacco use and quitting, see CDC’s Smoking & Tobacco Use Web site. Limited Alcohol Avoid drinking too much alcohol, which can raise your blood pressure. Men should have no more than 2 drinks per day, and women only 1. For more information, visit CDC’s Alcohol and Public Health Web site. |
What Is Carotid Endarterectomy?
The carotid arteries are the two main arteries in the neck supplying blood to the brain. As people age or do not maintain a healthy lifestyle, fatty deposits or plaque can build up on artery walls and block the blood flow. Almost 90 percent of Strokes are caused by a blood clot or blockage of a blood vessel. A carotid endarterectomy is a surgical procedure in which a doctor removes fatty deposits from the carotid arteries. It is the most common surgery for removing fatty deposits in the United States and can reduce the risk for Stroke by as much as 55 percent.
Prevent Recurrent Stroke
If you have already had a Stroke, the most important step for preventing another one is to follow your doctor’s advice. Don’t stop taking medicine unless a doctor advises it, and discuss the risk factors listed above with your doctor to determine your personal risk levels. Then, learn how to control and manage those risk factors.
Within five years of a first Stroke, the risk for another Stroke can increase more than 40 percent, and recurrent Strokes often have a higher rate of death and disability because parts of the brain already injured by the original Stroke may not be as resilient.
No one has to have another Stroke. Again, the best way to treat a Stroke is to prevent one in the first place.
The carotid arteries are the two main arteries in the neck supplying blood to the brain. As people age or do not maintain a healthy lifestyle, fatty deposits or plaque can build up on artery walls and block the blood flow. Almost 90 percent of Strokes are caused by a blood clot or blockage of a blood vessel. A carotid endarterectomy is a surgical procedure in which a doctor removes fatty deposits from the carotid arteries. It is the most common surgery for removing fatty deposits in the United States and can reduce the risk for Stroke by as much as 55 percent.
Prevent Recurrent Stroke
If you have already had a Stroke, the most important step for preventing another one is to follow your doctor’s advice. Don’t stop taking medicine unless a doctor advises it, and discuss the risk factors listed above with your doctor to determine your personal risk levels. Then, learn how to control and manage those risk factors.
Within five years of a first Stroke, the risk for another Stroke can increase more than 40 percent, and recurrent Strokes often have a higher rate of death and disability because parts of the brain already injured by the original Stroke may not be as resilient.
No one has to have another Stroke. Again, the best way to treat a Stroke is to prevent one in the first place.