Women, Stroke, Blood Pressure: What You Need to Know at All Ages

Let women talk about real health problems! No, it doesn’t mean you’ll get diabetes or vegan, but it’s still an important issue. But for now, let’s talk about stroke and blood pressure.

guess what? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in six deaths from cardiovascular disease is due to a stroke. To make matters worse, in the United States, strokes die every four minutes. This is about 795,000 people annually. This is not good news.

So we need to ask, why no one really talks about this dilemma? So, while our community seems to have a wide range of strokes (not intended for puns) about the risk of cardiovascular disease, we realized that the whole of May was devoted to stroke awareness. Spent all last month (Minority Health Month) Talk to experts about minority health. So when I say it’s time to bring more consciousness to this horrific situation, you can believe me.

After all, May is American Stroke Month. Let’s take a closer look at why this is especially important.

I was able to talk to Dr. Donna E. Newsam, a neurologist at Plano, Texas Presbyterian Hospital, to educate us about this serious problem, especially with regard to the impact of stroke on women.

Dr. Newsom gladly mandated. “Stroke is a neurological problem in the brain caused by a disruption of blood supply. The confusion is a hemorrhagic stroke in which blood flow is interrupted by too much blood in that area, or enough blood in the brain area. Can manifest as ischemic strokes that are interrupted by the lack of supply. Some strokes cause serious neurological problems, although you may not know that you have had a stroke. Over time, serious pathological problems can eventually occur.

Like me, you probably had a stroke and wondered if you didn’t know it. This is horrifying and we haven’t even been able to discuss blood pressure yet. But stick to me. Knowing what to look for promises to be worth it.

Dr. Newsom hadn’t finished talking about the stroke. She then explained that women’s risk of stroke increases with age. Of course, you want to get older, but especially in your 50s, you also need to be prepared for aging. So what do girls need to do to keep checking?

“There are certain things, such as high blood pressure, that are hopefully controllable risk factors. In the brown and black communities, high blood pressure is a big risk factor for all of us anyway, and after age it is the biggest risk factor for stroke. It’s a risk factor. “

Translation: Basically, if you can control your blood pressure, you can reduce your overall risk. Good to know.

But this does not mean that young women are clear. Dr. Newsom continues. “One of the things that can happen during pregnancy is pre-eclampsia, which basically causes the blood pressure to rise too high and causes swelling in the urine and elevated protein. They can also cause a stroke.” She recommends being consistent with scheduled doctor visits to ensure early detection of signs, to reduce the risk to mothers and babies.

When I riffed diabetes at the top, I was thinking about something else, but it’s also a factor in stroke, so I still have to raise it. Finally, in addition to avoiding diabetes, smoking, and throwing away the delicious margaritas I love, in addition to our best interests, we must strive to avoid stress. Even if there is a margarita once in a while.

Now that the coronavirus vaccine has been deployed and things are starting to relax a bit, this may be a good time to enhance your self-care to reduce overall stress. Women wear the most hats in our world, but they don’t always choose, which causes more stress. Therefore, we need to learn to reduce the load as much as possible.

Dr. Newsom describes how the bad things she saw in the hospital give her the view that more women wanted to be seen before ending up with post-stroke care. .. I fully agree with Dr. Newsom. We women must change our view of why we should focus on what we want to be healthy. Start with the big picture.

On the other hand, we fully understand that all restaurants within a 15-mile radius are easy to detour, despite the temptation to bring delicious food to the front door.

Still, you don’t have to feel completely helpless.You don’t always know that you have a stroke, but remember the useful acronyms that are properly called. fast Can help you recognize the signs: FAce sagging – Arm’s weaknesses – SDifficulty of Peach – TThe name to call 911.

And you have it. Information, mitigation / prevention and awareness. I would like to thank Dr. Newsom for teaching us about stroke, blood pressure, and overall medical knowledge for women at risk.

During this month’s Stroke Month, the American Stroke Association reminds anyone of any age and time that a stroke can occur. Everyone needs to know the stroke warning sign and the importance of calling 911 immediately.Preventive visit Stroke.org..