Are you at risk for stroke? | SIU Healthy Dose

Written by Rebecca Budde, SIU School of Medicine

On average, someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds; every 4 minutes, someone dies from one.

While some risk factors are out of your hands, you do have control over several of them. “Taking the risk factors you can control out of your life, can reduce the risk of stroke and other health problems significantly,” says SIU family medicine physician Dr. Rachel Rahmen. “Many of these preventable risk factors are related to each other, and taking control of one often leads to better results in other areas.”

Here are the risk factors you can control to help reduce your stroke risk:

High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
This is a major risk, according to the American Stroke Association. Hypertension is roughly defined as blood pressures over 140/90 (normal is 120/80). Adopting healthy lifestyle habits to lower blood pressure can go a long way to prevent a stroke.

Smoking
After high blood pressure, smoking is the single greatest contributor to stroke. The nicotine and carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke damage the cardiovascular system in many ways. The use of oral birth control combined with cigarette smoking greatly increases stroke risk in women.

Physical Inactivity and/or Obesity
You’ve heard it before, but being a couch potato or being overweight/obese contributes to numerous preventable illnesses, including stroke. Since 1980, the prevalence of obesity in adults has doubled. In children, it’s tripled. With obesity comes higher blood pressure (remember, it’s the number one risk factor for stroke). Managing your weight will help lower your risk of stroke (along with diabetes, heart disease, and many others).

Diet
You’ve heard this one, too. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables is good for your waistline and reduces your risk of stroke. Lowering sodium intake and increasing potassium intake can lower blood pressure. Eating saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol can raise blood cholesterol levels and your risk of stroke.

Type 2 Diabetes
Diabetes increases your risk of vascular diseases (atherosclerosis). People living with diabetes also may have difficulty keeping their blood pressure stable, have high blood cholesterol, suffer from peripheral artery disease and be overweight. While diabetes is treatable, the presence of the disease still increases your risk of stroke.

Peripheral artery disease is the narrowing of blood vessels carrying blood to leg and arm muscles. It’s caused by fatty buildups of plaque in artery walls. This leads to a higher risk of carotid artery disease, which also raises the risk of stroke.

Atrial Fibrillation
An estimated 2.3 million Americans have chronic atrial fibrillation —when a heart beats irregularly, quivering instead of beating. This affects the atria or upper chambers of the heart where blood can pool and clot. If a clot breaks off, enters the bloodstream and lodges in an artery leading to the brain, it can cause a stroke. Atrial fibrillation can often be controlled with medication.

Other Heart Diseases
Those with coronary heart disease or heart failure have a higher risk that those with hearts that work normally.

Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis
The carotid artery is the large artery you can feel on the side of your neck. Atherosclerosis, the build up of plaque, narrows the carotid artery causing carotid artery stenosis.

Drug Abuse
Studies have shown that recreational street drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines and others are associated with increased risk of stroke and heart attacks.

Alcohol Abuse
Like smoking, alcohol abuse can lead to multiple medical complications, including stroke.

Resources are available to help you take charge of your health. Talk with your doctor about how you can lower your risk of stroke. SIU School of Medicine has numerous programs in place for patients interested in quitting smoking, better diabetes management and weight loss programs. People of any age can have a stroke. Stop a stroke before it starts.

To make an appointment with a primary care provider who can help you reduce your risk, call SIU’s Center for Family and Community Medicine at 217-545-8000.