Stroke, even the word sends shivers down my spine. There are two types of stokes, both of which are problems with the blood vessels in the brain. The more common type is called ischemic. This is where a blood vessel in the brain is blocked. A TIA (transient ischemic attack) is a type of ischemic stroke that clears itself. It is thought that TIA’s are either responsible for, or a product of, Alzheimer’s. Many times after a fall my mother’s caregivers would tell me that they thought she had a ‘mini stroke’ or TIA. The other major type of stroke is a hemorrhagic stroke. These are caused by a ruptured or burst blood vessel that bleeds into the brain. One problem is that some treatments for ischemic stroke can cause a hemorrhagic stroke.
This is one of those conditions that is much easier to prevent than to recover from. Statistics say that stroke is the nation’s third leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer. That means that approximately 700,000 Americans suffer from strokes every year, and of those almost 160,000 die from them. Beyond prevention the key to surviving a stroke is quick recognition and treatment. The signs of a stroke are in the suddenness of them. They include weakness or numbness in the face or on one side of the body, dimness or loss of vision especially in one eye, unable to speak or slurring of words, severe headache for no apparent reason, and unexplained dizziness and balance problems or falls. When something like this comes on suddenly it is bests to beat feet it to the nearest emergency room. There they can administer some strong anticoagulants to break up the clot and limit the damage to the brain. This may save your life, or greatly improve the quality of the rest of your life.
Prevention is easier than recovery. Prevention would include some of the same steps as preventing heart disease. These would include diet, exercise and supplementation. Dietary changes involve decreasing the red meat and bad fats in your diet while increasing the fruits, vegetables and good fats. Exercise is important, one of the books said you need to work up a sweat every day. I would say you need to find some type of exercise you can do every day. The more strenuous the exercise the more you are doing for your body.
Supplementation can be easy or hard for you. The experts call for an increase in your B vitamins and anti-oxidants. The B vitamins are easy. There are generous portion of all the B vitamins in Enriching Gifts Complete Vitamins Plus. It also contains other important nutrients your cardiovascular system needs, including potassium. When it comes to anti-oxidants you will have to make a choice between Enriching Gifts Metabolic Complete and Enriching Gifts Heart Algae. Enriching Gifts Metabolic Complete is a well rounded source of anti-oxidants with multiple ingredients. Enriching Gifts Heart Algae is a single source, but what a source. It is a unique type of red algae that is grown under unique conditions in Hawaii. Studies have shown that has the ability to strengthen and support the cardiovascular system.
One recommendation for preventing strokes is to keep your blood flowing smoothly. You have probably heard that it is important for older people to take a baby aspirin every day. The purpose is to keep your blood from clotting inside your veins. The problem is that even something as simple and innocent as aspirin can and does have side effects. In some people it can cause or aggravate ulcers. Usually these are in the stomach, but you can imagine that if you have an ulcer in the esophagus that stomach acids containing aspirin would only make it worse. Another blood thinner that is recommended is Vitamin E. Again there are some problems with this. It is hard to determine what levels of Vitamin E you are absorbing without blood tests. Too much Vitamin E, or any other blood thinner, puts you at a higher risk for hemorrhagic strokes. Our product for thinning your blood doesn’t have those side effects. In fact the side effects for Enriching Gifts Plant Enzymes is better digestion, thinner blood, decreased inflammation, decreased platelet clumping and even a reduction in atherosclerotic plaques. Those sound like the side effects you can live with. Although taking Enriching Gifts Plant Enzymes does thin the blood it is extremely rare that it would get thin enough to cause the type of problems that occur with chemical blood thinners, or even Vitamin E.
If your cholesterol is high your doctor may suggest you lower it in order to prevent strokes. Enriching Gifts Sterol Max works wonderfully for this. Taken with meals the plant sterols in Enriching Gifts Sterol Max block the absorption of cholesterol from your foods. This lowers the amount of outside cholesterol that enters your body. Then the Enriching Gifts Plant Enzymes kicks in and helps clean out the cholesterol that is in your blood stream.
Along with diet, exercise, and supplementation many health professionals recommend behavior modification as a means of stroke prevention. For people who have borderline blood pressure, but tend to get angry that anger can be a problem. It can raise your blood pressure high enough to break off a piece of plaque or to mobilize a clump of platelets. This isn’t a problem until that increased blood flow pushed that clump into a blood vessel that is too small to let it pass. If that blood vessel is in the brain you will have a stroke. If that blood vessel is in the heart you will have a heart attack. The other suggestions in this article will help, but if you find yourself repeatedly getting ‘red in the face’ with anger that anger may be a time bomb aimed at yourself. If this describes you look for a counselor that can help you find ways to diffuse that anger. Your house of worship is a good place to start.
In a lot of ways I feel like I am reporting the same things for strokes as for almost any other preventable problem. Eat right, get plenty of exercise and don’t be afraid to supplement with the Enriching Gifts line of supplements.
Sources:
Nature’s Medicines by Gale Maleskey and the Editors of Prevention Health Books, copyright 1999 by Rodale Inc.
The Herbal Drugstore by Linda B. White MD and Steven Foster, copyright 2000 by Rodale Press
The Good Herb by Judith Benn Hurley, copyright 1995 by Judith Benn Hurley.
Blended Medicine Combining Mainstream and Alternative Therapies by Michael Castleman copyrighted 2000 by Michael Castleman.
Smart Choices in Alternative Medicine by Samuel Benjamin, M.D. copyrighted 1999 by Meredith Corporation.
