Every minute counts when you have a stroke. How quickly the patient receives help depends on his or her further life, as well as the possibility of returning to full fitness. What to do to protect yourself from it? How do you know if you are at risk of a stroke?
Strokedestroys neurons - every minute after the start of an acute strokestroke2 million neurons are destroyed, i.e. cells of the nervous system, 14 billions of synapses, or nerve connections, and nearly 12 kilometers of nerve fibers carrying nerve signals. As a result, as much as 40 percent. people who have suffered a stroke have injuries that require specialist treatment and rehabilitation.
What we colloquially call a stroke is a truly sudden impairment of the blood supply to the brain. In most cases (80%) it is caused by the closure of the artery that supplies the blood to the brain by a clot or embolism (known asischemic stroke ). The remaining 20 percent. arehemorrhagic strokes , which are caused by rupture of a blood vessel and hemorrhage into the brain. And although the elderly are most often affected by stroke, 30- and 40-year-olds are becoming more and more victims.
Do not hesitate, get tested - check your risk of stroke
People suffering from atrial fibrillation are seven times more likely to be at risk of stroke - says prof. dr hab. med. Janina Stępińska from the Institute of Cardiology in Anin. This condition is the most common type of heart rhythm disturbance, and its typical symptoms are palpitations, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and chest pain. Sometimes the disease does not present any obvious symptoms, which creates additional risks. What is its essence? Well, the atria of the heart (the upper cavities of the heart) do not pump all the blood into the chambers of the heart (the lower chambers of the heart), which causes it to accumulate. These conditions favor the formation of blood clots in the atria. If the clot breaks off and flows with the bloodstream to the brain, a stroke can occur.
The main risk factors for stroke are obesity, cigarettes, diabetes, hypertension, and age. Because over the years, with the existence of the above-mentioned reasons, the risk of developing the disease increases, the changes in the brain are larger and the recovery is more difficult. Therefore, at the first, seemingly trivial symptoms such as dizziness, trouble concentrating,if you experience double vision, numbness in the limbs or face from time to time, you should visit a doctor. Blood tests will help determine the cause and select medications.
How to treat yourself when there is a risk of a stroke?
Patients at a low risk of stroke are advised to take acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), a popular aspirin, from time to time, but its long-term use damages the gastric mucosa and may cause bleeding. Enteric aspirin is safer, but the market also offers many other preparations containing ASA acid. These are polopyrin, acard, encorpin, aspirin protect, but the choice is always made by the doctor. Until recently, patients at moderate or high risk of developing the disease were treated with other drugs antagonizing the effect of vitamin K, e.g. warfarin. Recently, a new, oral, and therefore more convenient to use for patients, drug dabigatran etelxylate has appeared. The preparation, as confirmed by international studies conducted on approximately 19,000 patients, significantly reduces the risk of strokes and embolism, and causes less bleeding, including life-threatening and intracranial bleeding. It also reduces the number of deaths from cardiovascular causes.
Other measures are proposed by natural medicine. Dr. Jadwiga Górnicka recommends elderly patients to take the homeopathic preparation Lymphomyosot 3 times a day, one tablet under the tongue, 20 minutes before eating (to achieve the result, use two packages of the preparation). It is also helpful to take additional Fitoven herbal paste 3 times a day for half a teaspoon dissolved in a quarter of a glass of warm water. The same effect of thinning the blood and improving the work of the heart has drinking distilled or homeopathic kerosene (in pharmacies). We drink it twice a day for 60 drops with a little water half an hour before eating. Kerosene is taken for 14 days, then 7 days off, and then go back to drinking kerosene. The treatment should last 3 months.
Both homeopathic medicines, kerosene and herbal mixtures should be taken prophylactically, e.g. once a year after the age of 40.
Diet in stroke prevention
The costs of treating stroke, including those directly borne by patients and their caregivers, are high and amount to around EUR 3,000 per year. Therefore, the cheapest is to prevent this disease, also from other civilization diseases and their dangerous complications. Their main cause is improper diet, containing too much animal fats and protein, and not enough vegetables, fruits and fiber. The negative effects of eating habits are exacerbated by the lack of physical activity, stress, and smoking. The basic condition for maintaining he alth, they sayspecialists from the Food and Nutrition Institute in Warsaw - there is a change in diet and the transition to the so-called Mediterranean diet. It has nothing to do with mortifying, on the contrary it is tasty and plentiful, but it assumes the elimination of animal fats in favor of vegetable ones, limiting animal proteins and, at the same time, increasing the amount of fish, vegetables and fruits. We have excellent conditions for this - says prof. dr hab. Barbara Cybulska. And so, for frying and raw for salads, we use rapeseed oil, which is cheaper and just as valuable as olive oil because it has a similar amount of unsaturated fatty acids. On the other hand, soybean, sunflower or corn oil is best used raw, because when heated, harmful substances are formed from them. Eat 4 servings of vegetables (40 grams) a day, 5 servings of cereal products, e.g. dark bread or oatmeal for breakfast, buckwheat or barley groats with dinner. Instead of sweets for lunch or afternoon tea, eat 30 grams of fruit every day (e.g. 3 large apples). Two large glasses of milk and a piece of heart will provide the right amount of calcium and protein. One serving of fish, poultry, peas, beans or meat per day provides the rest of the protein you need.
Drink milk, you'll be he althy
Research has proven that milk and its products, which have a terrible reputation for years, are an indispensable component of a proper menu and play a huge role in preventing civilization diseases. At the beginning of 2000, the results of many years of international research on the protective effect of milk in the prevention of ischemic heart disease were published. It was found that a diet rich in vegetables, fruits and dairy products reduces hypertension and allows to prevent heart attacks and ischemic strokes. One such study was conducted in the USA. It consisted in dividing the participants of the experiment into two groups. The first one ate an increased amount of vegetables and fruit, the second one, in addition to these ingredients, ate dairy products with a reduced fat content. This diet is referred to as a combination diet. The researchers were surprised by the fact that the highest drop in blood pressure was observed in people on a combined diet, with the first effects observed after just two weeks, which can be compared with the effects of pharmacological agents. The analysis of the results also showed that the combination of fruits, vegetables and milk in the menu also lowers the level of homocysteine, too high levels of which lead to atherosclerosis.
Another topic of interest to scientists was the influence of milk and its products on other civilization diseases, namely overweight and obesity. I found the elevation in obese peopleAfrican American intake of milk-derived calcium resulted in weight loss. French scientists became interested in a similar topic and showed that low-fat milk and yogurt in the daily menu reduce the risk of developing metabolic syndrome in people with abdominal obesity. This name covers such diseases as: hypertension, high sugar levels, high levels of "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides, and low levels of "good" cholesterol.
Recipe for a herbal mixture that thins the blood, improves the functioning of the liver, kidneys, heart, lungs and has a relaxing effect on blood vessels, soothes the nervous system: 100g of Succus Taraxaci (dandelion), Succus Farfarae (coltsfoot) , Itr. Visci (mistletoe), Itr. Hypocastani (horse chestnut), Succus Plantaginis (plantain), 2 bottles of Pectosol, Solaren and Nervosol and a bottle of Kellicardine. Combine all the extracts together and use 3 times 60 drops in water between meals.