Stroke Prevention

Stroke Prevention such a timely subject.....need to work on a few of these myself.  But here is a "quick" overview.

RISK FACTORS THAT CAN BE CHANGED
hypertension (high blood pressure)
smoking
heart disease
high cholesterol level
excess alcohol intake
obesity
sedentary lifestyle
diabetes
elevated hematocrit (increase in red blood cells)
use of oral contraceptives (especially for women who smoke)
stress

RISK FACTORS THAT CANNOT BE CHANGED
age
sex
race
family or individual history of stroke or TIA

There are many positive steps that you can take now to reduce your risk of stroke. The most common risk factors for stroke are listed below. These include some conditions that can be changed by lifestyle modification or medical treatment, and some, such as hereditary factors, that cannot be changed.

How to Reduce Your Risk

Most of the controllable risk factors for stroke relate to cardiovascular fitness. Because stroke is a form of cardiovascular disease, it makes sense that keeping your heart and blood vessels as healthy as possible will reduce your risk of stroke. The following are the most important measures you can take to control your stroke risk. These include changing risk factors by medical treatment as well as by positive lifestyle modifications.


Regular Medical Check-ups
Risk factors such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and elevated blood cholesterol must be monitored by your physician on a regular basis. These risk factors can be changed or, at minimum, controlled by proper medical treatment and appropriate diet and lifestyle modifications.

Control Blood Pressure
High blood pressure (hypertension) is the single most important risk factor for stroke. Even mild hypertension, if not adequately treated, increases stroke risk. In general, blood pressure should be below 120/80. Elevated blood pressure promotes atherosclerosis and puts abnormal pressure on blood vessel walls, which can cause a rupture at a weak spot. Hypertension is often called the“silent killer” because there may be no obvious symptoms. It is important to check your blood pressure regularly. Controlling blood pressure, whether by a low-sodium diet, weight control, stress management and/or medication will reduce your risk of stroke. Remember: medication to control hypertension is effective only if taken on a regular basis, so it is important to follow your physician’s instructions.

Treatment of hypertension in older adults is also important. However, in elderly individuals, an abrupt fall in blood pressure may actually cause a stroke. Therefore, treatment of high blood pressure in the elderly may need to start with small doses of medication, so that blood pressure is reduced gradually.

Stop Smoking
Studies confirm that smokers have a higher risk of stroke, regardless of other factors such as age, high blood pressure, or heart disease. The risk declines dramatically within a few years of stopping smoking.

Treat Heart Disease
A variety of heart conditions, including irregular heart rhythms (atrial fibrillation), heart attacks and heart valve disorders, can cause stroke. Treatment of these disorders can reduce stroke risk.

Improve Diet
Consumption of foods high in fat, cholesterol and salt increases the risk for stroke. The following recommendations are among the most important for stroke prevention. Ask your doctor for more help in identifying dietary culprits and making appropriate substitutions.

1) Avoid excess fat: High intakes of fat, particularly saturated fat, and cholesterol may contribute to atherosclerosis, which is associated with stroke. Dietary fat and cholesterol may be reduced by limiting fat or oil added in cooking, trimming fat and skin from meats and poultry, using low-fat or non-fat dairy products, broiling and baking foods rather than frying, and limiting eggs to no more than three a week.

2) Avoid excess sodium: Excess sodium in the diet is linked to hypertension. Table salt is the primary source of dietary sodium. There is also “hidden” salt in most processed and canned foods. Disodium phosphate, monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrate, or any similar compounds in the list of ingredients indicate a high sodium content. Try to eat fresh food whenever possible.

3) Limit alcohol intake: Individuals who drink alcoholic beverages (more than two drinks per day) have an increased risk of stroke. For heavy drinkers, the risk of stroke increases further. Healthy young adults are just as susceptible to the risk of stroke incurred by heavy alcohol consumption as are older persons.

Maintain a Healthy Weight
Being overweight strains the heart and blood vessels and is associated with high blood pressure. Obesity also predisposes a person to heart disease and diabetes, both of which increase the risk for stroke. Keeping your weight to recommended levels for your height and build is a prudent preventive measure.

Exercise Regularly
The percentage of fat in our bodies tends to increase with age. Regular exercise helps keep this increase to a minimum. There appears to be an inverse relationship between exercise and atherosclerosis, i.e., more exercise is linked to lower levels of atherosclerosis.

If you have not exercised regularly and would like to start an exercise program, or if you have medical problems or family history of serious disease, consult your physician before beginning an exercise program. Select an exercise program that is most suitable for you. Experts recommend at least 20 to 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three to four times a week in order to achieve and maintain an improved level of fitness.

Treat Diabetes
The association between diabetes and increased stroke risk seems to be related to the circulatory problems caused by diabetes. Good control of diabetes appears to reduce the cardiovascular complications of the disease.

Reduce Stress
Because stress may increase blood pressure, it is linked indirectly to stroke risk. A one-time stressful event rarely causes a stroke, but long-term unresolved stress can contribute to high blood pressure. Stress management, including relaxation techniques, biofeedback, exercise and counseling, appear to be useful in the treatment of high blood pressure, thus lowering the risk of stroke.

Use of Oral Contraceptives
Oral contraceptives, especially those with high estrogen content, appear to increase the risk of blood clots, including clots that cause stroke, especially in women over age 30. The risk is even higher in women who smoke. Consult your physician for advice regarding alternative methods of birth control if you have stroke risk factors and are currently using oral contraceptives.

Post-menopausal Estrogen Use
Recent studies have shown that post-menopausal estrogen resplacement is associated with a small increase in the risk of stroke.

Risk Factors That Cannot be Changed
Age
The chance of having a stroke increases with age. Two-thirds of strokes occur in persons over the age of 65.
Gender
For reasons that are not yet clear, stroke is 25 percent more common in men than in women.

Race
The incidence of stroke varies among races for reasons that are probably related to genetic factors. Social factors, such as lifestyle and environment, can also play a part. African-Americans have a higher incidence of hypertension than Caucasians, and also a higher rate of stroke. Furthermore, they are more likely to suffer strokes at an earlier age.

Family or Individual History
A history of cerebrovascular disease in a family appears to be a contributing factor to stroke. While you have no control over your family history, you can take steps to decrease your risk through diet, exercise and other means discussed in this guide. If you have experienced a stroke or TIA in the past, you are at increased risk for having a stroke in the future. Therefore, all the preventive measures discussed in this section are of particular importance.

Horseback Riding {finally!!}

Miss Cinderella has been begging to do riding lessons forever....finally her day has come!  She loves her little horse Peaches and can't wait to see her.  After her first lesson she told me about a dream that she had.  It involved our shed and the removal of doors to make a barn so we could have a horse in our backyard!  I am sure the neighbours would love that. Happy riding!!

Corn Maze Fun

We were camping a couple weeks ago and went to a corn maze with some friends. They had so many fun things to do for all age groups.  We started off by going on the big jumping pillow.  It was huge and so much fun! 

Next we wondered off to the "go-carts".  I so want one of these giant sized tricycles to cruise around my little street.

Next we actually did the corn maze.  We had to pick the medium difficulty maze as the hard maze was marked as muddy.  It was a lot of twists and turns and discussions to stay together, eh...those that were with us know what I am meaning! In the end no matter how hard we tried to lose the kids we all ended up together.  Lots of fun and laughs, eh!


 We also did some shooting!  Of the gourd and tomato kind.  This was so much fun.  I loved it when it hit the bus. I really love these sorts of things - maybe I should be a bit concerned.

And just when you think you are about done we stopped for a break and had huge ice cream cones.  It was a nice break.

Next we panned for some gold well okay rocks.  Which was also very fun so we might as well have been looking for gold!

This was such a fun day!  After many hours we reluctantly left after one last feeding of the goats to head back to our camp site.  And at our camp site we had some weird sightings of this variety....

My Quilt

My Mom is an excellent quilter and does amazing work as in everything is perfect and all the corners meet.  A LONG time ago I had seen a quilt that I fell in love with but I quickly pushed it out of my mind - because I can't sew a straight line!  But thankfully my Mom didn't push it out of her mind she bought it and worked on it for years without me knowing. I always had a feeling that something was being worked on.  But  that feeling quickly vanished as Mom gave the Princesses quilts made out of the fabric that I loved. 

Fast forward about 6/7 years and the surprise of my life!  She did make me the quilt!!!   I had no idea at all about the quilt until I went to a quilt show.  Mom invited and kept asking if I was going to this quilt show but I still had no idea I just assumed that she wanted company.  At the quilt show there was the quilt that she had made for me.  I was so surprised and shocked really.  The pictures don't really do it justice.  It is lovely and beautiful! 

Thank you again Mom!

Red Rock Canyon

While spending a week in Waterton we all got to experience Red Rock Canyon.  It is amazing.  The first time I was there I did the little walk above the canyon and the Princesses plus friends played in the water below.  It was beautiful.  The second time I got to experience the canyon was to go straight through the canyon.  I stopped at one point (because I am a big chicken!) and stayed with a sweet little boy while the rest of the group ventured on.  They ventured to the water slide which is a rock that is so smooth as the water has run over it for thousands of years.  Did I mention the water was a tad cold like in GLACIER COLD!!  They had so much fun! 

I knew this was something that the Rhino would love to do.  However I forgot about his "problem". He took an antihistamine and put his arm in the water and waited for a few minutes.  He was good to go!  I was relieved as I knew he would love to do this. And I made it all the way in to but passed on the water slide!

Here are a few pictures of the hike in to the water slide....

This was only possible because of this woman...she is AMAZING!  She got us there all 3 times and was so willing to do this.  Mrs. S has a new name in my opinion SHERPA!  She was able to scale the rocks like no one else all while guiding her preschooler through this.  The Princesses ranked this as the most fun time they had during summer vacation.  So thank you again Mrs. Sherpa.  On top of it all she offers homemade snacks at the end of all her adventures.  Incredible is all I can say about her.  And of course a BIG thank you for making this possible.

Our own Sherpa guide!



First Day of School

I just can not believe that the summer is over...it went so fast.  I think I need another 2 weeks to feel complete!  We did lots of fun stuff this year swimming lessons, camping, hiking and day camps and now here we are at the first day of school.  We had an early start to the day both the Princesses were happy and excited to go to school but still that little bit of nervousness was creeping in.  You know the story who will be my teacher and who will be in my class.  We hit the jackpot this year both girls have awesome teachers PLUS they each have great friends in their classes!