Understanding Stroke and Decreasing Your Risk Through Exercise

One of the greatest benefits of consistent exercise is the effect that it has on the brain. Exercise can decrease your risk of stroke, promote healing after injury, and help your chances of survival. However, to get the most out of this, there are several things that you should do. Modern research has given us a much better understanding of some of the most common and debilitating health problems. Understanding your risk factors, and working to help yourself decrease their impact can help to increase your chances of living healthier and comfortably longer.

What is a Stroke?

A stroke is what happens when your brain doesn’t get enough blood flow. While our brains are only a small percentage of our body weight, they use over 20% of our bodies energy. This energy is delivered to our brain by the blood. This high metabolism means that it needs a steady supply. However, several things can happen to stop blood flow. If an artery that supplies blood ruptures, the blood will flow out, and the areas of the brain supplied by that artery can die. This is usually fatal. Another type of stroke occurs if a clot forms, and blocks blood flow to an area of the brain. This can be treated by administering drugs which break up clots. However, they must be taken quickly after the symptoms occur.

Know your Risk factors

One of the largest single factors in predicting a stroke is your blood pressure. Having higher blood pressure can double or quadruple your risk for stroke. High blood pressure is often a result of multiple lifestyle and genetic factors. While you cannot do much about genetic factors, there are lifestyle choices that you can make to help decrease your risk of stroke. For example, limiting your daily sodium intake can have a noticeable effect on one’s blood pressure. If you have a family history of stroke, then you should know that you are at risk for one as well. Another common risk factor for stroke is obesity. If you are overweight, you increase your chances of having a stroke. This is easily helped by consistent exercise and healthy eating. While you may not be able to change this overnight, a consistent effort to work out, especially cardiovascular exercise, will help you to more your BMI to a healthier number. Losing weight can help you in other areas too, such as lowering your blood pressure.