How to Find Lasting Shin Splint Relief
Shin splints are a painful interruption to daily living and workouts. Often caused by repetitive strain, effective treatment and a plan for future prevention can help you avoid the discomfort and downtime.
5 Signs You're at Risk for a Stroke (and What to Do About Them)
Don’t wait for stroke symptoms before you take steps to prevent them, since a stroke itself is likely to be your first sign. Strokes are silent killers that strike quickly with no advance notice.
Stroke risk factors, on the other hand, are conditions and lifestyle choices that are known to increase your chances of having a stroke. Reviewing these with the physicians at Doctors United in the Bronx, White Plains, Ardsley, and Yonkers, New York, can help you avoid an unexpected encounter with a stroke.
Managing chronic conditions, making lifestyle changes, and getting routine screenings can help you stay on top of your own stroke risk. Today, we’ll look at five of the most common stroke risk factors so you can develop your own prevention strategies.
High blood pressure
Uncontrolled high blood pressure is one of the strongest predictors of stroke, and it’s another condition that shows few symptoms until it reaches its own dangerous levels. The only way to stay aware of blood pressure levels is through regular cuff test monitoring.
Once you’re diagnosed with high blood pressure, you typically control it through medication and lifestyle changes, such as dietary changes, quitting smoking, and increasing levels of moderate low-impact aerobic activity. Keeping your blood pressure in check dramatically reduces your stroke risk.
Diabetes and high cholesterol
Diabetes and high cholesterol, both chronic conditions, can damage blood vessels throughout your body and increase the risk of blood clot formation. Uncontrolled diabetes causes harm with its high levels of glucose in the bloodstream. High cholesterol contributes to the formation of plaque in your arteries.
When these break loose, they can travel through your body until they lodge in a blood vessel and block flow to your brain. Maintaining blood sugar levels can control diabetes damage, while cholesterol may require medication, diet, and physical activity to bring under control.
Atrial fibrillation and other heart rhythm irregularities
Abnormal heart rhythms increase the chance of blood clots breaking loose and travelling to the brain. You may notice heart rate issues through symptoms such as:
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Palpitations
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Discomfort, pain, pressure, and/or tightness in your chest
Talk to us about an examination and heart monitoring to evaluate the level of irregularity you’re experiencing. Treatment is based on your diagnosis.
Lifestyle factors
Aspects of your life can contribute to stroke risk, things like:
- Excessive alcohol use
- Smoking
- Sedentary activity levels
- Obesity
- A family history of stroke
We can help with action plans to mitigate most of these risk factors.
Previous TIA episodes
Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) are temporary interruptions of blood flow to the brain. These cause symptoms such as difficulty speaking, facial drooping, changes in vision, or weakness.
Symptoms may pass quickly, but this doesn’t mean that the danger of a more serious stroke is gone. You need urgent medical care to evaluate your condition.
If you have one or more of these five stroke risks and you aren’t currently receiving treatment, contact Doctors United to enlist our partnership in your stroke prevention management care.
Call or click to book with the nearest of our five locations. It’s never too soon to take steps to avoid the onset of stroke. Plan your visit today.
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