Stroke is a fact of life

Stroke is a fact of life — a brutal one for that matter. While this is not to suggest that we should live in fear of this life-altering affliction, we should come to terms with the fact that the power to prevent it is in our hands.

More often than not, stroke creeps in unawares. The vast majority of those who had developed it say they didn’t see it coming. They had lived their lives the way most of us do, sometimes with the excesses of saturated fat-laden foods.

“This is why prevention is so important. You simply will not have any warning signs indicating that you’re heading for a stroke in the future. And once you suffer a stroke, the damage, should you survive it, can be absolutely devastating,” experts at an online portal, care2.com, enthuse.

A Consultant Neurosurgeon/Director, Stroke Action, Nigeria, Dr. Biodun Ogungbo, warns that the incidence of stroke is increasing worldwide, being the second leading cause of death in most industrialised countries among adults aged 65 and above.

And just before you say ‘Thank God, I’m not up to 65,’ know that people do develop stroke at the age of 35 these days. Ogungbo confirms this much when he revealed that they now see more stroke patients who are 40 years old!

As scary as it sounds, that an individual survived a stroke does not mean that he is out of danger: he risks having a second stroke, which usually proves fatal than the first. And that’s why physicians who attend to stroke patients do all that is within their power, medically, to prevent a second stroke in the same patient.

Know your risk

Experts say people living with hypertension, diabetes and sickle cell diseases; as well as those who are obese, smokers and those with a strong family history of stroke must be very careful with their health. Ogungbo suggests that such category of people must change their lifestyles or be on medications to prevent stroke.

As in many disease prevention strategies, experts advise that healthy dietary habits come in handy in staving off stroke as much as humanly possible. They are of the view that what you feed your body with will either make or mar your health and, consequently, determine your risk for stroke.

For instance, physicians say, cutting your risk of hypertension will also reduce your risk of stroke by more than 70 per cent. It’s a simple mathematics: Ogungbo says, “Hypertension is the single most important cause of stroke and the one that is eminently reducible by treatment. It has been estimated that between 52 and 70 per cent of stroke patients have hypertension.”

Again, controlling high blood pressure (aka hypertension) can reduce the incidence of second stroke, experts at the McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, assure. They warn, “The factor with the strongest link is high blood pressure, which more than doubles the risk of a stroke.”

Foods that stoke stroke

One way of cutting your risk of stroke by half is by eating well. Nutritionists and cardiologists agree that there are certain foods that act as poison in the body. The idea is that when you make such foods your favourites or must-haves, you might as well be laying the foundation for a life of pain that stroke is. What are these foods? Here we go…

Commercial baked goods

Experts say one type of stroke — ischemic stroke — accounts for about 87 per cent of all strokes and it occurs when a blood clot forms and blocks blood flow to the brain. They warn that if a blood clot forms somewhere in the body and breaks off to become free-floating, it may be carried through the bloodstream to the brain where it can cause ischemic stroke.

Where do these foods come in? For one, non-foods such as cakes, biscuits, pastries (meat pies, beef rolls, pizza, puff-puff, samosa, spring rolls, doughnuts), French fries… (you name it!) contribute in no small measure to developing high cholesterol level in the body. This is because they contain (partially) hydrogenated oils or trans fats.

Nutritionists note that trans fats is considered as the worst type of fat, especially because it makes food digestion very difficult. When the body is saturated with these foods, they can also form blood clot that eventually blocks blood flow to the brain.

Stroke results from an obstruction in a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain, physicians say.

Processed meats

Generally, processed meats such as hot dogs, bacon, salami, sausage, ham, bologna, smoked meats, etc., contain food preservatives such as sodium nitrate and nitrite. These have been shown by researchers to directly damage blood vessels, causing arteries to harden and narrow.

Again, their high cholesterol level is not in doubt, and they can lead to plaque build-up in the arteries (atherosclerosis).

“This plaque-build-up can block normal blood flow to the brain and cause a stroke. High cholesterol may also increase the risk of heart disease and atherosclerosis, which are both risk factors for stroke,” a cardiologist, Dr. Muyiwa Ogunleye, warns.

Alcohol

Researchers from the University of Lille Nord de France, Lille, France, report in the journal, Neurology, that heavy regular drinkers have a considerably higher risk of stroke early in life, compared to teetotalers or moderate drinkers.

Processed sugar

This is found in the so-called, ‘fruit’ juice (which, actually, contains NO fruit but are really made of concentrates, additives and artificial sweeteners), sweetened teas, and the so-called diet drinks.

The lie in the diet drinks is horrendous, as there are many of them in the food market that actually do more harm to the body than can be imagined.

Diet drinks come in various names and tastes. Yet, scientists, during a presentation at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference, showed that people who drink just one diet soda a day may increase their risk of stroke by 48 per cent!

Consequently, experts advise that we drink more water and avoid diet drinks like plague.

Excess salt

Ogunleye says hypertension is a major risk factor for stroke; and that consuming too much salt (sodium) in your diet can lead to hypertension. Here, we are talking about the regular, table salt, being the main source of dietary sodium in most people’s diet in this part of the world. While the cardiologist does not forbid anyone from eating salt, he counsels against using the salt shaker when eating; and also advises remarkable reduction in our salt use.

The bottom line: Eat your food as naturally as possible. Eat what you cook, as you are able to determine what goes into your pot, based on your dietary needs. And if you must eat any of the aforementioned foods, do so sparingly.