Stroke Risk Factors

By Bonnie Jenkins, Advanced Natural Medicine

What if, in the blink of an eye, half of your brain stopped working properly? That’s essentially what happens when you suffer from a stroke.

Stroke, or more accurately a “brain attack,” is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. It’s also a leading cause of permanent disability among survivors. Your risk of stroke increases with age, a factor over which you have no control. But new research has found five alterable lifestyle factors that can significantly reduce that risk.

Risky Business

In a new study published in the journal Circulation, a group of Harvard researchers combined the findings of 43,685 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and 71,243 women in the Nurses’ Health Study, which both tracked diet, smoking, physical activity, alcohol intake and body mass index (BMI) over time. They found that the risk of having a stroke varied greatly depending on five critical factors:

Diet: People who ate an unhealthful diet on a long-term basis were 10 to 33 percent more likely to suffer a stroke.

Alcohol Consumption: The study participants who drank small amounts of alcohol (2½ drinks a week) were 16 to 23 percent less likely to have a stroke than those who didn’t drink at all. But this isn’t license to drink all you want. The researchers also found that those who drank the most (at least two drinks per day) had a 39 to 41 percent greater risk compared to teetotalers.

Exercise: The saying “move it or lose it” has never been truer. In the study, the participants who weren’t physically active were 66 to 76 percent more likely to suffer a stroke than those who exercised at least six hours a week.

Weight: Being overweight (as measured by BMI) was also found to be risky. People with BMI greater than 32 were 72 percent more likely to have a stroke than those with a healthy BMI that fell below 25.

Smoking: This one is a no-brainer. Participants who smoked more than a pack a day were at greatest risk for stroke – almost 2½ times the risk – than those who never smoked. Unlike your age, every single one of these risk factors is under your control. And, since at least half of all strokes can be prevented by making healthy lifestyle changes, it’s important to eat a whole foods diet, exercise, maintain a healthy weight, don’t smoke and drink in moderation.

Magic Minerals

Along with eating a healthy diet, ensuring an adequate intake of specific nutrients – especially calcium, magnesium and potassium – can help reduce your stroke risk. All three minerals help to keep arterial walls supple and flexible, allowing the heart to pump blood efficiently and reducing plaque buildup in the arteries. That means less stress on the heart and less chance of a stroke, whether from a clot or rupture due to a blocked artery. These three minerals also help to lower blood pressure and maintain proper electrolyte balance, preventing irregular heart rhythms.

Even if you do eat a diet rich in these minerals, it’s still smart to take them in supplemental form since they not only help prevent stroke, but support a number of key body functions. For instance, taking 1,000 mg. of calcium (along with 400 IU of vitamin D to aid absorption) also supports strong bones. But when it comes to stroke, calcium not only promotes healthy blood pressure levels, research shows that women supplementing with at least 400 mg. of calcium cut their stroke risk by a third.

Magnesium, on the other hand, maintains proper smooth muscle function in blood vessels and helps to transport both potassium and sodium – which supports healthy blood pressure levels. Take a supplement that provides 400 mg. of magnesium daily.

Potassium is also important to reduce blood pressure. Some findings indicate that dietary potassium can reduce the risk of stroke, although potassium supplements have not been shown to reduce the incidence of this devastating condition. But, if you have high blood pressure or consume a lot of salt, it’s wise to take up to 200 mg. of potassium daily.

The Big 3

Omega-3 fatty acids, found primarily in fish but also in nuts, flaxseed and soy products, can also reduce the incidence of stroke, as well as other cardiovascular problems. The reason? Omega-3s reduce blood platelet aggregation (blood clotting), blood pressure, LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Epidemiologic Follow-Up Study showed that women who ate fish more than once weekly halved their stroke risk. Your best bets are salmon, halibut or scrod, which are low in toxins. To make sure you are getting everything omega-3s have to offer, enjoy fish once or twice a week and supplement with two to three grams of pure fish oil per day.

One Last Thing ...

Vitamin C also has been associated with lower stroke risk. British researchers recently completed a decade-long population study of more than 20,000 people, age 40 to 79. The participants completed a health questionnaire and attended a clinic. They were then followed for the next 10 years, and the incident of stroke was documented.

After adjusting for other factors like tobacco use, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, physical activity and alcohol consumption, the researchers found that those with high blood levels of vitamin C at the start of the study had a 42 percent lower risk of having a stroke than those with low vitamin C levels.

Of course, loading up on C-rich fruits and veggies is a great way to boost your levels. But it’s not always possible to get all that goodness from your diet. You can, however, fill in the gaps by supplementing with a daily dose of 1,000 to 2,000 mg. of vitamin C.

This Just In ...

If you or someone you love has suffered from a stroke, you may want to add a Nintendo Wii gaming system to your Christmas wish list. A growing number of physical therapy programs have begun using the Wii as part of treatments to help people recover from strokes and other central nervous system injuries.

Unlike traditional game consoles, which are controlled by levers and buttons on hand-held devices, the Wii is controlled by a remote that is able to sense its position relative to a sensor. This allows the console to be controlled with three-dimensional movement and large-body gestures. According to therapists at Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Hospital at the Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, the Wii helps physical therapy patients improve their balance, coordination, upper and lower body strength and general stamina.

If the gaming system is a budget-buster, or if movement is difficult, try some music. Studies conducted at Helsinki University in Finland reported recently that after a stroke, the verbal memory of patients was boosted by 60 percent in regular music listeners. In comparison, patients who didn’t listen to music experienced little or no improvement.

The study was conducted over two years on 60 stroke victims who were divided into three groups. Every day, one group listened to music, one group to an audio book reading, and the third to nothing. During the study, the participants also underwent cognitive and psychological tests.

The patients who listened to music experienced less depression, emotional stress and to a certain extent, less confused moods. These benefits were most pronounced in those who were able to choose their own music since listening to familiar tunes and lyrics boosts dopamine levels and activates an interconnected network of brain regions. Better yet, the music seemed to stimulate the damaged areas of the brain, assisting the brain’s ability to repair and renew its neural networks after it’s been damaged. And the improvements were still evident six months after the study had been completed.

So whether jazz, classical or rock and roll is your passion, adding it to your list just might prove to be the best stroke medicine around. Rock on!

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References:

Chiuve SE, Rexrode KM, Spiegelman D, et al. “Primary Prevention of Stroke by Healthy Lifestyle.” Circulations. 2008; 118:947-954.

Das UN. “Essential fatty acids and their metabolites could function as endogenous HMG-CoA reductase and ACE enzyme inhibitors, anti-arrhythmic, anti-hypertensive, anti-atherosclerotic, anti-inflammatory, cytoprotective, and cardioprotective molecules.” Lipids in Health and Disease. 2008;7:37.

Myint PK, Luben RN, Welch AA, et al. “Plasma vitamin C concentrations predict risk of incident stroke over 10 y in 20 649 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer Norfolk prospective population study.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2008;87:64-69.

Särkämö T, Tervaniemi M, Laitinen S, et al. “Music listening enhances cognitive recovery and mood after middle cerebral artery stroke.” Brain. 2008;131:866-876.