A former neurocritical care nurse revealed the five things you can do to take care of your brain health and prevent a stroke.
Siobhan McLernon, lecturer in nursing for adults at London South Bank University, recently shared the simple things that you can change in your lifestyle to avoid a stroke.
A stroke occurs when the blood flow to the brain is disturbed or blocked or when a blood vessel breaks out. This restricts vital blood and oxygen to keep the brain healthy and the Damage can become permanent If enough brain cells die.
Traits are the second cause of death in the world and the fifth more common in the United States. Nearly 800,000 Americans are experiencing a stroke each year, of which at least 140,000 people die.
The risk factors for stroke that tend to be more frequent in the elderly – such as high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, obesity, obesity, obesity, obesity, obesity, obesity, obesity, obesity, obesity diabetesSmoking, physical inactivity and poor diet – are now more and more among young people.
However, McLernon wrote The conversation: “The adoption of these simple lifestyle changes can help reduce the risk of stroke and optimize heart and brain health.
Below, Dailymail.com details the common lifestyle changes that Mclernon suggests preventing a stroke:
According to the association of stroke, having high levels of “bad” cholesterol can increase the risk of stroke by 10%
Avoid smoking
According to McLernon, the most important thing to improve the health of the brain is to quit smoking cigarettes and vapes.
In addition to the acceleration of brain aging and the increase in the risk of dementia, smoking causes damage to the walls of blood vessels in the brain and reduces the overall oxygen levels due to carbon monoxide in tobacco, which makes the body more subject to a stroke.
It also makes sticky blood, further increasing the risk of blood clots that can block blood vessels and cause a stroke.
Those who smoke 20 cigarettes each day are six times more likely to have a stroke that people who do not smoke, according to Medical News today.
Maintain blood pressure and stabilize cholesterol
Siobhan McLernon, a former neurocritical care nurse revealed the five things you can do to take care of your brain health
High blood pressure can express stress on the walls of the artery, which can make them lower and cause the accumulation of fat molecules.
This can cause significant damage to the vessels and pave the way for the formation or rupture of blood clots (break what?).
A JAMA 2020 study have found that having a blood pressure of 10 mm HG greater than a healthy fork can increase the risk of lines caused by 20% blood clots and strokes caused by the bursting of a 31% blood vessel.
The nurse wrote in The conversation: “If you are over 18 years old, have your blood pressure regularly checked, therefore, if you show signs of high blood pressure development, you can suffocate it in the egg and make the appropriate changes to your lifestyle to help reduce your risk of stroke.”
In addition, studies show high levels of LDL cholesterol (“bad”) and triglycerides (blood fats) increase the risk of strokes caused by blood clots due to the accumulation of fatty deposits in the arteries.
According to the ATC association, having high levels of “bad” cholesterol can increase the risk of stroke by 10%.
According to McLernon, the most important thing to do to improve brain health is to quit smoking cigarettes and vape
Reduce blood sugar
Another key aspect that paying attention is the blood sugar level in the body, suggests McLernon.
High blood sugar (hyperglycemia) is a significant risk factor for stroke because it can damage blood vessels, which can cause blood clots that go to the brain.
Over time, excessive blood sugar can increase in fat deposits or clots in blood vessels. These clots can be narrow or block blood vessels in the brain.
The speaker noted: “To reduce blood sugar levels, try to do regular exercise, eat a balanced diet rich in fiber, drink enough water, keep a healthy weight and try to manage stress”.
People with diabetes are twice as much at risk of having a stroke as their healthy counterparts.
Maintain a weight and a diet
Being overweight and eating unbalanced meals can considerably amplify the risks to have a stroke.
Bring too much weight increases your risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes – which can all damage blood cells, an impact on oxygen levels and contribute to the risk of higher stroke.
Those with a BMI of 25 or more are overweight, while those with a BMI of 30 or more are defined as obese.
Mclernon says that following a Mediterranean diet can help maintain health
According to the global stroke organization, overweight increases your risk of stroke by 22% and if you are obese, this risk increases by 64%.
However, McLernon says that the rest of a Mediterranean diet – a diet that emphasizes plants based on plants and healthy fats, including vegetables, fruits, beans, lentils, whole cereals, fish, extra virgin olive oil and nuts – can help maintain health.
She said: “A way to eat a balanced diet rich in fiber and maintain healthy weight is to follow a Mediterranean diet. It has been shown that this reduces the risk of stroke, especially when completed in nuts and olive oil.
Exercise and sleep are essential
Finally, the adult nurse and lecturer advised to take seven to nine o’clock in sleep every night.
Although this is not a direct cause, bad sleep and sleep disorders, in particular sleep apnea, are linked to an increased risk of stroke, potentially due to inflammation, the reduction of oxygen levels and blood flow to the brain.
The risk of stroke symptoms is four times higher in people who slept for less than six hours a night compared to people who declared seven to eight hours of sleep per night, according to researchers from the University of Alabama in Birmingham who analyzed the data on 5,666 people for three years.
But McLernon also warns against excessive sleep and says: “Too much sleep, however, is also associated with an increased risk of stroke, so try to stay as active as possible so that you can sleep as well as possible.”
She also recommends that people exercise more than two days a week.
The CDC recommends that American adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each week, more muscles strengthening exercises at least two days a week.
“The exercise must spread evenly over four to five days a week, or every day. Do strengthening activities, generally more than two days a week, ”noted the nurse.