Healthy Habits That Can Prevent a Stroke

Healthy Lifestyle Changes to Reduce Your Risk of Stroke

More than 750,000 in the United States suffer from a stroke every year. With such shockingly high statistics, it is essential that you make the necessary lifestyle changes to effectively prevent one from happenings.

Dr. Hisham Salahuddin, a neurointerventionist with Antelope Valley Medical Center stated: “While modern medicine has progressed significantly with effective medications and lifesaving treatments, lifestyle modifications are the most effective way to prevent future strokes. By exercising regularly, eating healthy, and quitting smoking all contribute to lowering blood pressure, improving diabetes, and lowering cholesterol levels. In essence, these lifestyle modifications can slow and often reverse damage to the blood vessels in the brain and rest of the body. In addition to the above points, checking your blood pressure and glucose (if you have diabetes) regularly, will help ensure you are on the right medications and prevent damage to the blood vessels. High blood pressure is an extremely common cause of stroke in our community, particularly in African Americans.”

Eat a Balanced Diet

From snack choices to meal planning, eating a healthier diet can help you to reduce your risk of stroke. Along with eating a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, try to cut back on foods that are high in the following:

• Saturated fats
• Trans fat
• Cholesterol
• Salt
• Added sugars

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Being overweight or obese can also significantly increase your risk for having a stroke, makign it important to try to maintain a healthy weight. By using your body mass index (BMI) as a guideline, you can get an idea of whether or not you’re in a healthy weight range for your age and height.

Lead an Active Lifestyle

Leading an active lifestyle can help you to reach and maintain a healthy weight for your age and height. Aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week. This works out to about 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

Although getting this much exercise can seem like alot to handle, there is more to physical activity than working out at the gym. Some activities that can help you9 reach your weekly fitness goals include:

• Walking
• Cleaning your home
• Gardening
• Dancing
• Bike riding
• Swimming
• Hiking
• Yoga

Quit Smoking

With smoking and using tobacco products being one of the biggest risk factors for having a stroke, quitting can help to reduce your risk. After several years of quitting smoking, your risk for stroke can drop to a similar risk of a nonsmoker.

Acute Stroke Care in Lancaster, CA

At Antelope Valley Medical Center, we understand that patients suffering from a stroke require a quick response and accurate diagnosis in the short window following an attack. Antelope Valley Medical Center's stroke response team has a proven track record for demonstrating extraordinary efficiency and expertise in stroke care.

With Advanced Primary Stroke Center Certification from The Joint Commission and the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Agency, Antelope Valley Medical Center is committed to providing timely care to quickly treat acute stroke victims.

Call (661) 949-5000 or visit our dedicated stroke care page for more information.