Healthy Lifestyle Is Key to Stroke Prevention

Want to prevent a stroke? A healthy lifestyle matters more than anything.

Strokes are on the upswing in the U.S., as the population ages and obesity rates increase. But deaths from stroke have decreased by 30 percent.

Even so, stroke remains the third leading cause of death in the U.S., after heart disease and cancer, and is a major cause of disability.

Improved prevention

"We think a good part of the reduction [in stroke deaths] is due to improved prevention," says Larry B. Goldstein, M.D., at Duke University. Dr. Goldstein helped draft new stoke guidelines for the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

A healthy lifestyle has had the biggest impact, cutting the risk for first-time stroke by 80 percent, Dr. Goldstein says. A healthy lifestyle means not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, and eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.

"There is nothing we are going to do in medicine to beat that," he says.

Keeping cholesterol levels and blood pressure low are also important for reducing stroke risk.

The recommendations, updated for the first time since 2006, were published in the December issue of Stroke.

Prevention for all strokes

Although there are several types of stroke, prevention is basically the same for all, Goldstein says. "People need to take charge of their own lives," he says. "The best way to treat a stroke is never to have one."

Other prevention-related information included in the guidelines:

• Genetic screening for stroke may be appropriate for some at-risk patients, but not for the general public.

• Treating patients with a blocked neck artery (carotid artery) with a stent or surgery should be decided on a case-by-case basis.

• Screening for narrowing of the neck arteries is not recommended.

• Aspirin is advised only for people at high risk of stroke for whom the reduction in stroke risk outweighs the bleeding risk of aspirin.

Always talk with your health care provider to find out more information.