If you are wondering how to prevent stroke then keep reading. You can follow every suggestion on preventing stroke, and it will reduce your risk of stroke. However, no one can tell you that if you follow all the precautions that you won't experience a stroke. Strokes are caused by a multitude of factors which can be related to genetics, the way you live, a surgery, an obscure defect, and who knows what else. This means there is no fullproof way to prevent stroke. I will tell you, however, if you follow the recommendations below, you will reduce your risk of having a stroke, and if you ignore the recommendations, you could greatly increase your risk of stroke.
To help prevent stroke, follow these steps:
Maintain your ideal weight - If you are overweight, you are more likely to have diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, and to experience a stroke. There are many resources online to help you calculate your ideal body weight and body mass index(BMI). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, the BMI provides a reliable indicator of body fatness for most people and is used to screen for weight categories that may lead to health problems. The CDC's BMI Calculator below helps you determine if you have a healthy body mass index (BMI) and if you fall within a normal weight range.
Another helpful chart can be found at www.idealbodyweightchart.com. This chart gives information about the ideal weight for people ages 25-59 with the lowest mortality rates.
Exercise regularly - An easy guideline to remember for adults age 18 to 65 is to get 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise 5 times per week. You can divide your daily exercise into 2 increments of 15 minutes or 3 increments of 10 minutes per day if exercising 30 minutes at a time is not possible. Moderate aerobic exercise includes activities such as walking briskly, playing doubles tennis, water aerobics, and riding a bike to name a few. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a webpage that explains how much physical activity one needs based on age including children and adults over 65.
Eat heart healthy foods (fruits, vegetables, foods with fiber) - To view dietary guidelines for Americans from the USDA (from 2015), visit https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/
Keep blood pressure under control (normal = less than 120/80)
Keep cholesterol under control (keep total cholesterol less than 200, HDL over 40, LDL less than 130, and triglycerides less than 150)
Keep blood sugar under control
Take medications as directed (make sure to know the side effects of medication and interactions with other medications - always inform your MD of any medications you are taking before starting a new one).
Remember, following these suggestions on how to prevent stroke will not guarantee that you won't have a stroke, but they will greatly reduce your risk of stroke.
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