Established Accepted Research Facts
Previously, researchers reported in error that only 50 percent of heart attacks were caused by risk factors such as smoking cigarettes or unbridled cholesterol. But now they recapitulate that the cause of 90 percent of all heart attacks occur because of nine risk factors that you as an individual have the ability to avoid.
Before listing the nine beasts that form the main cause of a heart attack, you should read and mentally acknowledge that these risks are equal opportunity killers. They attack men and women, young and old, black, white, Asian, European and American.
You cannot reverse the dangers that two of the risks affect, so there is no escape hatch built into the human body. However, you can affect a decrease of risk by adopting a lifestyle of diet, exercise and moderate alcohol consumption.
Validating Study
Salim Yusuf, MD, leading cardio scientist for the above-referenced study, conducted the study of 30,000 patients, 50 percent being first heart attack survivors, and 50 percent being healthy volunteers comprising similar age, race and gender to the first group of heart attack survivor patients. The study was performed in 52 different countries and on every populated continent, and concluded that it is definite that the same factors of risk and heart dangers causing a heart attack in a white European also causes a heart attack in an Asian.
Compiled Risks Causing Heart Attack:
- Smoking and why;
- High cholesterol and why;
- High blood pressure and why;
- Stress
- Abdominal obesity and why;
- Diet low in fruits and vegetables and why;
- Diabetes and why:
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Abstaining from alcohol
That last risk being abstaining from alcohol might be puzzling. However, scientific studies show males who drink up to two alcohol drinks per day, and females who drink up to one per day do have lower risk of heart disease. One drink is four to five ounces of wine, a 12-ounce beer or one ounce of liquor.
Measure Your Risk by Your Waistline
Instead of figuring the traditional body mass index, the study researchers took waistline measurements. A waist of more than 80 centimeters or 32 inches in women produced increased risk of heart attack. In men, a waistline more than 85 centimeters or 34 inches increased their heart attack risk. The waist measurement is a better and more accurate predictor because it is abdominal fat. That is the type far closely associated with heart attacks.
Summarizing Risk and Effect
The limits of your cardiovascular specialist and cardiologist to protect you from dying of a multi-infarct lie in their ability to provide you with latest scientific data, professional advice and a preventive treatment program. If prevention does not work and you suffer a major heart attack, your cardiologist will prescribe a more aggressive treatment plan. If that also fails, then a cardio surgeon might have an opportunity to participate in your treatment by arterial stent implantation or open heart surgery.
They cannot push the carbohydrates and fats off your fork and are unable to shove you into a gym or nature walk regularly. Their medical background is extensive and grueling, but requires your participation to be effective.
The road you take depends upon whether you choose to travel to prevention of a heart attack or take the highway to the major heart attack exit.
What causes a stroke
A stroke happens when the blood supply to a section of your brain is reduced or interrupted thus depriving your brain tissues of nutrients and oxygen. If this continues for several minutes, your brain cells start dying. A stroke is a medical emergency that still kills people worldwide and should be treated with urgency. You can minimize potential complications and minimize brain damage if action is taken promptly. Knowing what causes stroke could be instrumental in treating and preventing a stroke.
Types of Strokes
There are two major ways in which a stroke can happen. One is caused when something causes bleeding in the brain and another when something blocks the flow of blood.
This is the most common type of stroke as it happens in 8 out of 10 cases of stroke. This kind of stroke happens when the blood vessel responsible for taking blood to your brain gets plugged. It also happens when there’s poor blood flow from an irregular heartbeat thus form a blood clot or when fatty deposits contained in arteries break off and move towards the brain.
A Hemorrhagic stroke is less prevalent than an ischemic stroke although it can tend to be more serious. This type of stroke occurs when a weakened blood vessel in your brain leaks or when it balloons up and bursts. Taking too much blood thinner drugs and uncontrolled high blood pressure can also cause this kind of stroke.
Some few individuals experience this kind of stroke usually referred to as a “mini-stroke” which happens due to temporary blockage. Although TIA doesn’t cause permanent brain damage, it increases your chances of getting a full-scale stroke
Top Causes of Stroke
The following things can put you at risk of getting stroke;
Tobacco – Whether you’re chewing or smoking tobacco, you raise your chances of getting a stroke. Nicotine is likely to increase your blood pressure and cigarette smoke (even secondhand) makes fat build up in the main artery of your neck. Other than that, it thickens your blood thus making it more likely to clot.
Diabetes – Most people with diabetes are overweight and have high blood pressure and both these are risk factors for stroke. You’re also more likely to have a stroke when you have diabetes since diabetes destroys your blood vessels. The injury to your brain is also likely to be severe if you get a stroke when your blood sugar levels are high.
High Blood Pressure – Also known as hypertension, this is the most common cause of strokes. You may need to consult your doctor if your blood pressure is 140/90 or higher.
Heart disease – Atrial fibrillation or irregular heartbeat and defective heart valves increase your odds of getting a stroke. In fact, irregular heartbeat is responsible for causing 25 percent of strokes among the elderly. Fatty deposits can also lead to clogged arteries.
Family – Strokes can be hereditary. Your family could be sharing a tendency to get diabetes or high blood pressure. As a matter of fact, some strokes occur due to a genetic disorder blocking blood flow to the brain.
Age – Anyone can get a stroke and that includes babies in the womb. However, your odds increase as you grow older. After you pass the age of 55, your chances double up every 10 years.
Gender – Men are more likely to have a stroke than women of the same age. But at a later age, women are less likely to recover and more likely to succumb to stroke.