Why do People Have Strokes?
It is said that the stroke is the number three killer in the United States of America, killing approximately 800,000. The strokes occur when the blood flow to the brain is interrupted, or when a blood vessel in the brain suffers certain damage and as a result the vessel breaks or bursts. Almost 20 percent of the people who suffer a stroke die, and even if they survive, the damages which they receive as a result of the stroke will leave them with various disabilities.
There are many factors which come into play in the case of the strokes. For example genetics, race, and age, all matter because the people belonging to a certain age group or race have higher chances of having a stroke than the others. There are also many controllable factors which influence the chances for having stroke, besides the uncontrollable ones, previously mentioned. The place where one lives, or the food one consumes, all matter when it comes to the possibility of having a stroke.
One of the biggest factors when it comes to developing a stroke is the diet. The high-fat diet is very dangerous, because they increase the risk of a brain attack. The red meat and the deep fried food should be avoided. At the American Stroke Association’s (ASA) International Stroke Conference, it has been revealed that the post-menopausal women, who consume red meat or foods high in fat, have almost 50 percent higher chances of having a stroke than the women who avoid this type of food. The Trans fats are the most dangerous ones. These types of fats can be found in crackers and in other pastries. The women, who consumed seven grams of these fats each day, have with 30 percent higher chances of developing a stroke than the other ones. Instead of consuming these types of foods, the people should consume foods such as vegetables, fish, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and so on.
Another factor which influents the strokes is being single. It has been proven that the men who are married by the time they reach midlife have 64 percent lower chances of having a stroke than the men who are single. However, you should not get married with the first woman you hook-up with, because the marriage needs to be a happy one in order to reduce the chances of developing a stroke. If the men were in an unhappy marriage, they had the same chances of having a stroke than the men who are single. Being unhappy can also increase the chances of having a stroke.
It has been revealed that having a positive thinking or being in a positive mood will reduce the possibility of having a stroke. If a man is happy he will have 41 percent less chances of having a stroke. The situation is different in the case of the women, as happiness is not that influential in their case. Their chances of having a stroke are reduced with about 18 percent if they are happy. It is advisable to act as if you are happy, even if in reality you are not. The happy people have higher chances of exercising, and staying healthy than the miserable ones.
Obesity is another factor which is strongly related to the chances of having a stroke. The higher the body mass index of a person is, the higher are the chances for that person to have a stroke. The risk of having a stroke is with 2.2 percent higher in the case of the people who have a higher body mass index than in the case of the ones who have a lower BMI. In case you did not know, the body mass index is calculated with a person’s height and weight and it represents the fat percentage of that person. The method is not a very accurate one, but the method can only give an approximation of the fat level. Other methods can be used in order to obtain the accurate fat percentage in a body. The reason why the obese people have higher chances of having a stroke is because most of them have diabetes, or high blood pressure, which makes the situation much more difficult for them. Smoking is another habit which should be avoided because it seriously increases the chances of developing a stroke. Smoking almost doubles the possibility of having a stroke, along with other illnesses and diseases which it might produce, such as cancer. The risks can be reduced by quitting smoking, but you should know that starts to happen in about 5 years after the person quit smoking.
There are certain risks which are not under control, such as being born in the wrong demographic. The people who are black also have higher chances of developing a stroke than the ones who are white. The reason why the black persons have higher chances of developing a stroke is because they have higher risks of developing diabetes and other illnesses which increase the risk of a stroke. The gender is also important, because the women aged 35 to 64 have three times more chances of developing a stroke than the men who have the same age.
The reason for this might be because the women have more abdominal fat than the men, and that particular type of fat increases the chances of having a stroke. An area in which the chances for developing a stroke are very high is across the Southern United States of America. The states of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama are the ones which have the highest stroke rates in the United States. It has been discovered that simply the fact of growing up in the area will increase the chances of having a stroke, even if you move later. The people eat very unhealthy later, and that is the reason why such a large number of people have strokes there. The diet is very important.11
