Stroke

Initially, partially hydrogenated fats (trans fats) were artificially put into foods to substitute of the harmfulness of saturated fats.

We know today, that trans fats are possibly even more harmful than saturated fats. A new study conclusively reports that erythrocytes (or red blood cells) with a higher level of trans fats, was significantly related to the amount of trans fats that a person had eaten.

Important Action Points:

1. Interested women need to know that their stroke risk if higher if they have an elevated cholesterol, even if they do not have a history of heart disease.

2. The American Heart Association and the American Stroke ASsociation both recommend avoiding unfavorable cholesterol levels to prevent ischemic stroke.

Smoking cigarettes is never good. Most of us know that fact; however, from time to time it's healthy to review what the Federal Government has to say.

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative impacts on people at all stages of life. It harms unborn babies, infants, children, adolescents, adults, and seniors. The list of diseases caused by smoking has been expanded to include abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, pneumonia, periodontitis, and stomach cancer. These are in addition to diseases previously known to be caused by smoking, including bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, and throat cancers, chronic lung diseases, coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases, as well as reproductive effects and sudden infant death syndrome.

Risk factors for stroke include many of the same risk factors as heart attack:

• Family history
• Age
• Sex
• Race*
• High blood pressure (hypertension)

Preventing a stroke is related to taking care of our bodies and having a healthy lifestyle. The most important factors are:

• Controlling high blood pressure (hypertension)
• Lowering cholesterol and saturated fat intake

If there is either too little or too much blood in the brain, stroke will occur.

About 80 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes. They occur when blood clots or other particles block arteries to your brain and cause severely reduced blood flow (ischemia).

Editor's Note:

"Race" is sometimes mentioned as a risk factor in the development of certain cancers and a number of other diseases. When you read this in a discussion about an illness, note that the explanation seldom refers to anything biological. Instead, it usually refers to behavior, such as eating habits. The kinds of behavior usually mentioned as risk factors are culturally determined. They are not genetic or biological.

An association between Body Mass Index (BMI) at age 18 years in young women (who have never smoked) and death has been reported. Women who were a little overweight at 18 were more than half as likely to die young. Obese teens were at greater risk of premature death. Causes of death included cancer, heart disease, stroke and suicide.

According to a recent (July, 2006) study in Denmark, living alone can have dire implications for the heart.

Women over age 60 and men older than 50 who live alone have a two- to three-fold higher risk for unstable angina, myocardial infarction, or sudden cardiac death, according to the researchers.

Clozapine, considered the most effective antipsychotic drug, has serious side effects. According to a new study, patients taking this drug have significantly higher rates of an illness called "metabolic syndrome."