Lower your risks for ‘brain attack’ by adopting a healthy lifestyle, Kelsey-Seybold physician says
Kelsey-Seybold Staff
Houston Police officers respond to heart or stroke-related emergencies every year. Knowing the signs of a stroke and acting quickly can save a person’s life, including your own.
Stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. Also referred to as a ‘brain attack,’ a stroke occurs when blood flow to a part of the brain is interrupted,” says Puja Sehgal, M.D., a board-certified Family Medicine physician at Kelsey-Seybold’s Downtown at The Shops at 4 Houston Center Clinic. “High blood pressure is considered the number one risk factor for causing strokes.”
Other risk factors
Besides hypertension, Dr. Sehgal says other risk factors include:
- Narrowed arteries restricting blood flow
- High cholesterol levels
- Rapid or irregular heartbeat
- Diabetes
- Family history of strokes
- Advancing age, especially after 55
- Ethnicity: African-Americans are at higher risk
She says a stroke disrupts the flow of blood through your brain, thus damaging brain tissue. The most common type, an ischemic stroke, is caused by a constricted artery usually the result of fat or cholesterol accumulating on artery walls. A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel leaks or bursts.
Signs of a stroke
If you see or experience any of the following warning signs of a stroke, call 911 immediately:
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden, severe headache with no known cause
How to lower your risk
“To reduce your risk of a stroke, following a doctor’s recommendations and adopting a healthy lifestyle are the best steps you can take,” advises Dr. Sehgal, whose recommendations also include:
- Controlling blood pressure
- Lowering saturated fat in your diet and eating more high-fiber foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables
- Not using tobacco
- Controlling diabetes
- Maintaining a healthy weight
- Exercising sensibly and regularly