Stroke
Index of Diseases / Health Conditions ... Medicinal Foods, Herbs, Spices & Household Items
The below provides a general overview on this topic and may not apply to everyone. Any treatment protocol should be discussed with a qualified healthcare practitioner ... Please refer to: Medical & Legal Disclaimer.
About 780,000 Americans suffer strokes each year, resulting in the death of about 160,000 stroke victims annually. Stroke is a leading cause of premature death and long-term disability in the Western world.
Starting treatment within minutes to several hours after a stroke is crucial in limiting brain damage and can often limit the disability caused by the stroke.
The two major types of stroke are
- Ischemic Stroke: Accounts for more than 80% of strokes. Results from an interruption in blood flow through a specific artery supplying a specific area of the brain. When brain cells die as a result of this type of stroke, the resulting injury to the brain is called a cerebral infarction.
- Hemorrhagic Strokes: Accounts for slightly less than 20% of strokes. They are caused by a ruptured blood vessel either inside the skull, but outside the brain (known as an extracerebral hemorrhage), or inside the brain (intracerebral hemorrhage). Once a blood vessel ruptures, the resulting hemorrhage (heavy bleeding) damages the brain, resulting in a mass of accumulated blood known as a hematoma, which compresses nearby brain tissue and interferes with its blood supply. The initial arterial rupture has a specific pathological cause that must be determined before treatment can begin.
Causes:
Heart disease - including high blood pressure, diabetes and stroke - can increase your risk of dementia, as it damages the blood vessels that feed the heart and may also harm the blood vessels that nourish your brain. (Ref. Nutrition Action Healthletter, March 2008)
High Blood Cholesterol: When the human blood cholesterol level is higher than that which can be used by the human body, the surplus cholesterol may eventually cause strokes, and or cardiovascular distress. Medications, such as statins prescribed to lower the blood cholesterol, are themselves known to affect our bodies negatively in the long term.
Arteriosclerosis / atherosclerosis
Diabetes: Diabetics are 2-4 times more likely to die of a heart attack or suffer a stroke. In a 2002 study, analysis of a group of over 500 patients showed that 40% of patients suffering their first stroke had high glucose levels. Additional mortality in this group was increased. As well, patients with high glucose levels were more likely to have complications after a stroke, and were likely to have much longer hospital stays following a stroke. The study indicates that reducing high glucose levels may also reduce chance of stroke.
Chronic Kidney Disease - like high blood pressure, diabetes and elevated cholesterol levels - leads to an increased risk for heart disease and stroke.
Prehypertension puts you at high risk for developing hypertension (high blood pressure), which in turn increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Magnesium Deficiency: According to the National Academy of Sciences, most Americans are magnesium deficient, which the academy says helps to account for high rates of heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, arthritis and joint pain, digestive maladies, stress-related illnesses, chronic fatigue and a number of other ailments - Please click on this link for more information.
Certain Drugs / Medications:
- Tamoxifen: The leading breast cancer drug Tamoxifen can indeed reduce breast cancer occurrence in certain high-risk women, but it also hikes your risk for blood clots, stroke and uterine cancer. In a recent British study, breast cancer patients who switched from tamoxifen to an aromatase inhibitor (AI) had a much lower death risk -- and were less likely to have the cancer spread. In fact, indications are that aromatase inhibitors are up to 44% more effective for many women over 40.
- Menopause Drugs: Standard HRT drugs make estrogen dominance worse, as they provide estrogen - but contain NO natural progesterone. Instead, they use a synthetic form called progestin, which does not protect women from breast and other cancers. In fact, it puts women at increased risk for stroke, epilepsy and asthma.
Prevention:
Exercise: Dr. Steven Hooker of the University of South Carolina's Prevention Research Center lead a study that found that men who did the most cardiovascular exercise had a 40 percent lower risk of a stroke than those who did the least. For women, there was a 43-percent lower risk. To lower your risk, the recommendation is to get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical actvity on all or most days.
Blood Sugar Control / Diabetes Studies show that control of high blood sugar can significantly help decrease chances of several very serious conditions, including strokes. It is recommended that people, particularly over the age of 40, have yearly blood glucose tests to rule out diabetes, and the development of greater risk factors for stroke, cancer and cognitive impairment. Screening is especially important for people at high risk of developing diabetes, such as those with a family history of diabetes, those who are overweight, and those who are more than 40 to 45 years old.
- Click here for information on blood glucose levels.
Supportive Nutrition:
- Vitamin E: This well-known antioxidant significantly slows the progression of Alzheimer's and stroke-related dementia. However, research shows that overdoing it with too much vitamin E does more harm than good. (Recommended dosages are usually between 30 mg to 400 mg per day - discuss with your doctor). (Vitamin E also has application in Cancer Treatments)
- Flaxseeds have the highest ALA and lowest LA, thus can help improve the imbalance in essential fatty acids. ALA has many benefits, one of them is to protect the heart in two ways – through improvements in abnormal heart rhythms and a reduction of blood platelet stickiness. ALA also reduces LDL or “bad” cholesterol and lipoprotein levels for the prevention of heart attacks and stroke.
- Bananas are high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke. According to research in The New England Journal of Medicine, eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%!
- Ginkgo biloba improves the blood supply and circulation to the brain as it does to other parts of the body, which can only have a positive effect on the memory and other cognitive functions of the organ. Moreover, improved circulation along with ginkgo biloba’s anti-oxidant properties play a major role in protecting against the circulatory problems which can lead to stroke.
- Organic Raw Chocolate: Another study compared how blood platelets responded to a flavonol-rich cocoa drink with 25 grams of semi-sweet chocolate pieces and a blood-thinning, 81-milligram aspirin dose. The research found similar reactions to the two from a group of 20- to 40-year-olds: both the drink and the aspirin prevented platelets from sticking together or clotting, which can impede blood flow. In conclusion, flavonol-rich cocoa and chocolate act similarly to low-dose aspirin in promoting healthy blood flow. Reducing the blood's ability to clot also reduces the risk of stroke and heart attacks.
- Omega-3 and Omega-6 Fatty Acids: Evidence is accumulating that diseases, such as Obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, and stroke, are the result of high levels of omega-6 fatty acids and low levels of omega-3 fatty acids along with deficiencies of fat-soluble vitamins.
- In 1998, data from the Physicians’ Health Study showed that eating fish once a week versus less than once monthly halved the likelihood of dying suddenly from a heart attack. Total heart attack rates were not affected by fish consumption or the amount of omega-3 fatty acids ingested. One year later, a report in Lancet described a randomized trial in which men who’d had a heart attack received either a fish oil supplement, 300 mg of vitamin E, both, or neither. The groups who received the fish oil supplement had significantly lower rates of heart attack, stroke, and death during the next three and a half years. Rates of sudden death dropped by 45%.
- Report on nearly 80,000 women in the Nurses’ Health Study: Published in 2001 in the Journal of the American Medical Association, this 14-year study found that eating fish at least twice a week versus less than once a month cut in half the risk of strokes caused by clots blocking an artery to the brain. The Nurses’ Health Study also found that eating one to three servings of fish per month cut the risk of heart disease by 20%, while eating at least five servings a week lowered risk by 40%.
- Kiwifruit help lower triglyceride levels, and they reduce platelet clumping. The platelet effect could be particularly good for your ticker: Although platelets aid in blood clotting, when these cells stick together too much, it could set the stage for a heart attack or stroke.
- Bell Peppers contain vitamin B6 and folic acid, which are important for reducing high levels of homocysteine, a substance produced during the methylation cycle. High homocysteine levels have been shown to cause damage to blood vessels and are associated with a greatly increased risk of heart attack and stroke. In addition to providing the vitamins that convert homocysteine into other beneficial molecules, bell peppers also provide fiber that can help lower high cholesterol levels, another risk factor for heart attack and stroke.
- Vinpocetine is derived from common periwinkle leaves and used as a stroke treatment in Eastern Europe and Japan. It improves the flexibility of red blood cells, which allows them to flow more freely through the brain's smaller vessels, providing damaged neurons with the benefits of enhanced circulation. Vinpocetine is not recommended for dementia not caused b vascular issues. (5 mg to 10 mg daily may be recommended by health practitioners - discuss with your health practitioner).
- Peas are full of folate, a powerful B vitamin known to lower blood levels of a stroke-promoting compound.
- Cranberries ... Grapes ... Peanuts
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