How to protect your family from Stroke

​Self-Check for the risk of stroke
 
Q1. More than 40 years old. Yes or No?
Q2. You eat only a little of vegetables and fruits. Yes or No?
Q3. You like salty dishes. Yes or No?
Q4. You are obese. BMI (Weight (Kg)/Tall (m)/Tall/(m))>25. Yes or No?
Q5. You rarely do exercise. Yes or No?
Q6. You smoke. Yes or No?
Q7. You have people who had stroke in your family or relatives. Yes or No?
 
If you have more than 3 Yes, you get a yellow card. You can have stroke in the future so it is necessary to improve your life habit.
If you have more than 5 Yes, you get a red card. You have a high risk having stroke in the future. You need to improve your life habit right now.
 
People with fluctuating blood pressure has 6 times more risk of stroke than normal blood pressure.
 
How to check if you have fluctuating blood pressure
 
(1) Measure your blood pressure in the resting condition. (ex. 114/85)
(2) Measure your blood pressure once again. Stand up when the pressure starts going down. (ex. 130/86)
If the difference between 2 measurements of higher blood pressures is more than 15, there is a possibility of fluctuating blood pressure. (ex. 130-114=16)
 
Signs of stroke
 
Many diseases in the brain cause abnormalities on one side of the body.
 
When the left part of the brain is damaged, aphasia which is an inability comprehend and formulate language and acalculia which people have difficulty performing simple mathematical tasks show up.
 
Damage to the brain makes people lose contact sensation and misunderstand it as feeling cold.
 
There is a case that abnormalities appear in the eyes, accompanying with double vision or visual field defect.
 
When the damage to the brain is suspected, a grip of one of the hands becomes weak like you can’t lift up a coffee cup or you often drop a spoon.
 
How to find an abnormality of the brain appearing in the arms – Barre's arm sign
 
Extend both arms upright in the supinated position and hold them at shoulder height for at least 10 seconds with eyes closed.
 
Pronation (the arm rotates inward like the palm faces down) or downward drift of the arm indicates the abnormality in the brain such as stroke (Fig. 1).
 
Treatment of stroke (cerebral infarction) (Acute stage)
 
1. Medication
Thrombolytic agent called t-PA is used, which dissolves blood clots but only can be used within 4 hours after the onset.
 
2. Surgery
Blood clots can be removed completely, but the burdens on the body is large.
 
3. Clot recovering treatment
A stent retriever is sent to the place where is a blood clot in the brain from the thigh, using catheter. This treatment has less load to the body and can be done within 8 hours after the onset.
 
Correct approach until an ambulance arrives (Fig. 2)
 
(1) In the case of cerebral hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage, 80 % of people vomit. So lay the person on his or her side, facing down.
(2) Paralyzed side of the body should be upper side because the throat is also paralyzed on the same side. If paralyzed side is lower side, vomit goes into the airway.
 
Causes of stroke
 
(1) High blood pressure (2) Irregular heart beat (3) Abnormal lipid diseases (4) Diabetes (5) Smoking (6) Overconsumption of salt (7) Drinking too much alcohol (8) Insufficiency of water intake
 
Dehydration makes the blood sticky, making the blood vessel easily clogged and making the risk of stroke (cerebral infarction) higher.
 
Overconsumption of salt, smoking and alcohol attack the blood vessel, causing high blood pressure. If there is a fragile part in the blood vessel, hemorrhage or clogging of the blood vessel in the brain occurs.
 
Women after menopause should be careful because female hormone has the function to lower the blood pressure and to protect the blood vessels. Even if the blood pressure was lower when they were young, there are a lot of cases that their blood pressure elevates after menopause.
 
Constipation can be a cause of stroke. When you strain to eliminate stools, the blood pressure suddenly goes up. In that case, the body involuntarily tries to lower the blood pressure, lowering the heartbeat. That causes irregular heartbeat, making blood clots in the heart. That sometimes causes stroke (cerebral infarction).
 
Abnormalities of the arm
Dropping things, Inability to fasten buttons, Inability to wear one side of shoes
 
Food to prevent stroke
 
The food is chocolate. One of the biggest causes of stroke is high blood pressure. Chocolate prevents and improve the high blood pressure. Cacao polyphenol included in cacao which is material of chocolate is bitter taste component. Cacao polyphenol prevents breakdown of NO which makes the blood vessels flexible and wide, lowering the blood pressure.
 
High cacao content chocolate which contains more than 70 % of cacao is effective to lower the blood pressure. About 25 grams per day of high cacao chocolate is good to lower the blood pressure.