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Posts Tagged ‘stroke’

Health Risks of Hypertension and Diabetes

November 30th, 2009 Dan Hicks No comments

It’s known that hypertension itself significantly increases these risks, too. Unfortunately, the two diseases often go hand-in-hand and more then two-thirds of people diabetics also suffer from high blood pressure, HBP. As a result they have a compounded risk of various medical conditions.

LifeWire – It’s common that people with diabetes with all the attention paid to blood glucose level overlook closely associated medical condition – Hypertension.

A Lower Blood Pressure Goal for People with Diabetes

Health care providers usually recommend diabetics will keep their blood pressure, BP, even lower than most adults under 130/80 mm/Hg. According to the recommendations of Diabetes Association (ADA) people with diabetes should get their BP checked at least two to four times per year.

Lifestyle Changes for High Blood Pressure Control

The only good thing about diabetes is that the lifestyle changes to help control HBP and diabetes are pretty much the same. Additionally these help control blood cholesterol levels, too.

Diet

The recommended diet for people with diabetes include: a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lower-fat proteins (dairy, fish and nuts), and unsaturated fats. Since carbohydrates can contribute to the elevated blood sugar level attention must also be paid to carbohydrate consumption. But, all over, this is the same basic diet that is effective for diabetes management.

The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet plan recommended for controlling HBP puts the same emphasis on fresh and low fat food choices. Additionally it also limits sodium consumption to only 2,400 milligrams per day. That way the DASH diet help in controlling both diabetes and high blood pressure.

Exercise

The required modifications in lifestyle recommended for diabetes pretty much similar to those for hypertension. A brisk walk for 30 minutes for five days per week can help manage and reduce risk for both conditions.

Weight Control

Excess weight and obesity significantly raises the risk for both diabetes and hypertension. Achieve calorie balance – if you take in the less number of calories a day that you usually burn to maintain a daily activities will help you lose the extra pounds and achieve your optimal weight. This will help control both conditions.

No Smoking

Smoking is a powerful risk factor for heart disease — and both diabetes and HBP raise the risk of developing heart disease – if you are diagnosed as diabetic, it’s crucial to stop smoking as soon as possible.

Medications May Be Required

Although these lifestyle changes help vast majority of people control high blood pressure and/or diabetes, in some cases even the most sincere efforts at lifestyle modification won’t be enough to take control of your blood pressure. In such cases, your doctor may recommend taking medications.

According the long experience in treating HBP and diabetes it’s have found that most diabetics have to take more than one medication to control high blood pressure.

Symptoms of a Stroke

November 24th, 2009 Dan Hicks No comments

The symptoms of a stroke is usually appear suddenly, and always be treated as a medical emergency. These include the sudden onset of any of the following:

  • The weakness of the face, arm or leg on one side of body
  • Numbness in the face, arm or leg on one side of body
  • Inability to understand spoken language
  • Inability to speak
  • Inability to write
  • Vertigo and / or imbalance of gait
  • Double vision
  • A strong headache and unusual

Symptoms of a stroke start suddenly because they are caused by a sudden interruption of blood flow to an area of the brain. When this happens it only takes a few seconds for the brain to stop functioning. Only a small proportion of strokes produce headache symptoms. However, the sudden onset of severe headache make doctors suspect a bleeding within the brain. Due to the high risk of death in these cases, people entering the emergency room complaining of severe headaches are quick to detect the presence of blood in the brain.

Whether or not the symptoms of a stroke is permanent depends on the length of the affected part of the brain is without blood flow. While the events of poor blood flow, or ischemia, lead to a full recovery, and events can leave permanent deficits. The severity of stroke symptoms varies depending on the part of the brain that is affected. For example, strokes affecting the brain areas that have minimal importance in the daily activity of the brain, usually produces mild symptoms or undetectable. By contrast, stroke affecting the brain areas that are of overriding importance in the daily brain activity causes the most debilitating symptoms and remarkable.

For example, stroke affecting one area of the brain smell rarely cause identifiable symptoms. Conversely stroke affecting one of the language areas of the brain almost always do. For the most part, the left brain controls the right side of the body, while the right brain controls the left side of the body. When a blood vessel that carries blood to a specific part of the brain is blocked, only the part of the brain where the blood vessel affected. This causes the symptoms on the opposite side of the body.

The sooner we come to the emergency room the better the chances are that you will receive a treatment that can reduce and even reverse the long-term career. After calling the ambulance to prepare to answer the following questions, which help doctors select the best treatment:

What time did your symptoms start?

  • What is your complete medical history?
  • Have you ever had a stroke? Have you had bleeding within the brain?
  • Do you have any metal inside your body? (this is important to decide if your head can be imaged with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the MRI machine has a powerful magnet. Articles of base metal within the body of the people include pacemakers, artificial joints, treatments dental, and even bullet fragments)
  • What medications and supplements you take regularly?
  • Do you have a bleeding disorder? It is very important to be aware in symptoms of a stroke for early management and prevention of more serious complications.