It has been a while. I’d like to pick up where I left off. My last post was centered on how getting rid of caffeine can help lower your risk of stroke . Another way of lowering your risk of stroke is to keep an eye on your blood pressure. Maintining proper blood pressure is essential to living an healthy lifestyle.
Most people think of high blood pressure, otherwise known as hypertension, as a precursor to heart disease, and while this is true, hypertension also creates the increased risk of a stroke or cerebral vascular accident (CVA). When your pressure rises it creates the opportunity for increased pressure in the brain. The medical term for this is increased intercranial pressure.
The increased brain pressure can strain and weaken blood vessels over time creating a dangerous situation where a stroke becomes inevitable. Most of the stroke patients during my medical career have had very high blood pressure. Usually, their pressure was 170 systolic or higher. Obviously, it can be lower than this for strokes, but this has been my findings.
Bottom line: keep your blood pressure under control. There are alternatives if you do not wish to use prescribed medicines. Terry Didcott has a great article on the silent killer which also discusses the dangers of high blood pressure. Give this article a read and we will next discuss healthy options for getting your hyptertension under control.
Andie
