Stroke Risk Paper

Stroke risk: by Dwayne Domond

Strokes are sometimes called brain attacks because of their similarity to heart attacks. Strokes can cause death in men and women. One type of stroke occurs when a blood vessel supplying the brain gets blocked by a blood clot or thrombus. This is called a thrombotic stroke. A hemorrhagic stroke, which is a less common type, can occur when one of the blood vessels in the brain breaks open. A sudden reduction in the blood supply causes injury to brain tissue, when the injury is permanent the condition is called a stroke. Risk factors for stroke include hypertension, diabetes, lack of exercise and cigarette smoking. Strokes happen in more cases where the person has had some damage to their major blood vessels. Screening tests can find disease in the blood vessels supplying the brain before the brain has suffered significant damage. These types of early detection tests look for signs of blood vessel disease in people without symptoms. Identifying which risk factor raises your risk and taking measures to reduce those risks can lessons the odds of suffering from a stroke. The risk of stroke can be substantially lowered by making healthy life style choices. Making changes to current daily routines can greatly reduce the risk of a stroke. Getting more exercise at least three times a week is a modifiable factor; that can significantly lower stroke risk. Parking farther away from the desired destination and taking the stairs instead of the elevator are two small make changes that can have a big impact on