SmartHealthToday: Don’t let a stroke stop you from doing what you love — but know how to lower risk


It’s time to step up the battle to prevent strokes, the number one cause of serious disability for adults, according to Dr. James P. Farrell, director of the Stroke Program for St. Elizabeth Healthcare.

“Our job is to keep disease from interfering with your life. Disease can take your life or prevent you from doing what you would like to do in life,” Farrell said. “The challenge of our time is to prevent disabilities caused by strokes.”

Your risk of a first stroke can be lowered by 80 percent if you:

  • Exercise regularly
  • Eat right
  • Maintain a healthy weight
  • Don’t smoke (if you do, quit)
  • Be moderate, if you choose to drink (Psst … For men, that’s no more than two drinks a day, and for women, that’s no more than a single drink a day)
  • He knows it’s not easy. “These things are hard,” said Farrell. “Our track record shows a lack of success.”

Strokes are the fifth leading cause of death, said Farrell, and share many risk factors with the leading cause of death: heart disease. As the population ages, the incidence of stroke now at 800,000 is expected to rise to 1 million by 2030. Between the ages of 75-84, one in every 100 men will have a stroke.

A stroke, as defined by the National Institutes of Health, is caused by the interruption of blood to the brain. Symptoms include sudden:

  • Numbness or weakness
  • Confusion speaking or understanding speech
  • Loss of balance or coordination
  • Severe headache with no known cause
  • Dizziness
  • Problems seeing in one or both eyes
  • The key word is sudden.

“More than 85 percent of strokes are ischemic. A blood clot in the brain blocks blood and that area of the brain (those cells) dies, said Farrell.

Signs of a stroke

Strokes are also caused “when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into the spaces surrounding brain cells,” according to the NIH definition of a hemorrhagic stroke.


Learn what you need to know about strokes from Dr. Mark Gilbert at the May 31 Women Take Heart: Wine & Watercolor event. Click here for more details or to register, or call (859) 301-WELL (9355) with questions. Come enjoy female friends old and new, as well as drinks, appetizers and a fun, step-by-step painting experience. Cost is $25.

SmartHealthToday is a service of St. Elizabeth Healthcare.


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