Stroke: It’s a choice! Don’t call it a disease

By Medical Expert Team

Nov 08 , 2020 | 2 min read

For ages we have known that prevention is better than cure, it holds true even for a Stroke. Brain stroke or brain attack is a lifestyle-associated disease and it is entirely your choice on how you choose to prevent it.

Dr. Chandril Chugh, Head, Interventional Neurologist, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, says the majority cases of stroke are due to a sedentary lifestyle and an unhealthy diet. Also, some of us are prone to having a stroke due to genetic causes, which is a different topic altogether. Preventing a stroke is not a rocket science and it can be prevented easily.

Know about the Stroke Prevention Strategy:

High blood pressure: The single most important thing that anyone can do to prevent stroke is to control their blood pressure. The easiest way to control blood pressure is through exercise and diet and if needed medications. Normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mm hg and anything higher should not be ignored.

High Cholesterol: Second amongst the usual suspects is cholesterol. One easy way to manage cholesterol is to increase fruits and vegetables in the diet and avoid fried foods. Consuming healthy fats from nuts (almonds or walnuts), fish oils and oils like olive oils and flax seed oil is also beneficial. If the diet doesn’t work then medications can come to rescue.

High Sugar: Sugar beyond the normal values is not good for the body. It is important to realize that and eliminate or at least limit the intake of sugary foods like cold drinks, juices, cookies, biscuits, chocolates, sweets etc. One 500 ml bottle of cold drink contains about 55 gm of sugar which is equivalent to 11 teaspoons of sugar….you can aptly call it the Devil’s drink, it’s not going to do any good to you.

Smoking: The smoke that travels through the lungs into the blood and then gets circulated throughout the body gets mixed with blood, causing the blood to become sticky and causing a stroke. Stay away from smoking. There are two kinds of people who don’t smoke: The healthy ones and the ones who are paralyzed due to stroke.

Diet: My advice for diet is simple, you can eat anything that comes out of the ground (fruits, vegetables) is white (low-fat milk) or sometimes pink (fresh fish or lean chicken). Stay away from anything in a plastic packet or a bottle.

Exercise: A good diet with regular physical exercise is the secret to good health. If you follow this routine you will not have to worry about the first three points of the discussion.

Doctor: The last piece of stroke prevention puzzle is the doctor.

“Your brain is the Ferrari of your body, and you don’t take your Ferrari to a roadside mechanic”. Choose wisely.