What can we do to help prevent a stroke from happening? Is a blood pressure check enough?
Don’t get me wrong. BP is a good screening tool.
However, what if you can see what your stroke risk looks like, and what you can do about it, and then you can monitor your efforts to see if you are improving the stroke risk?
Over the next few weeks, I will walk you through what is new in Cardiovascular Health Care.
Advanced technology allows us to do just that – in the easily accessible consultation room of a participating pharmacy.
Let me explain:
Our arteries are meant to be flexible and stretchy like a balloon to support our hearts to pump blood at a safe pressure to the brain, kidneys, etc. When arteries age and become damaged, blood pressure goes up and blood is forced at increased pressure into organs, small arteries in the brain burst and you have a stroke.
We can now measure the state of our arteries and the pressure it causes at the heart – therefore the risk of stroke. If caught early, this damage can be reversed.
But: you have to know what you are up against and monitor your progress, otherwise you are approaching the issue blind and hoping for the best.
How can we improve the stroke risk?
Medication and certain exercise types improve the state of the arteries.
Medication: If the pressure and state of your arteries are really bad, it is best to improve the risk with medication straight away. Most BP meds improve the elasticity of arteries, however, when you stop the medication, the problem is back.
Lifestyle: Losing weight, stop smoking, diet and the right type of exercise also improve arterial health – but more on that in a later article. I will also explain the important role of Nitric Oxide (NO) in our heart health and how we can improve the effect of NO in self-care.
So, the advance in cardiovascular health care is phenomenal.
