Moderation in drinking might be linked to stroke risk reduction

One of the repeated themes you'll see here: moderation.

And here's one more reason to repeat it - researchers might link a little alcohol each day to cut your stroke risk:

A research team from England and Sweden reviewed 25 studies as well as national data from Sweden. The investigators reported that consumption of up to two drinks a day was associated with a lower risk of ischemic stroke (blocked blood flow to the brain), but appeared to have no effect on the risk of bleeding (hemorrhagic) stroke. ...

Missing opportunities for stroke prevention

Do you know three people who've had a stroke?

Did one of those three have a missed opportunity to prevent a stroke?

Disturbing research from the United Kingdom suggests "missed opportunities" to prescribe drugs for stroke prevention:

Across the UK, that amounts to 33% of all stroke and 'mini-stroke' (transient ischaemic attack, or TIA) patients having a 'missed opportunity' for preventative treatment.

America's Stroke Belt and stroke risk factors

Do you live in the "Stroke Belt," or generally the southern/southeastern United States, plus Indiana?

Stroke risk factors - which we've talked about lately, are a big part of the problem. And strokes can hit young people, too, especially in the Stroke Belt. I ran across this story from Memphis about an unlikely stroke victim:

She blacked out. When she came around, her left side was going numb.

Politics aside, cigarette taxes are linked to smoking decline

There's a lot of politics in taxes. So I'll leave lawmakers or voters to decide on cigarette taxes. However, if somehow, someday the tobacco industry grinds to a complete stop, I'll be OK with that.

Regardless of politics, though, check out how smoking declines as cigarette taxes rise:

The number of cigarette smokers in the United States has dropped by 8.5 million since 2005 — and that fall could be accelerated by a tobacco tax just passed in California.

God is with you - even in the dark places

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

-Psalm 23:4

Ever been in a dark place?

I always associate darkness with my stroke, with a vague recollection of being in a dark room while someone was looking at an image of my brain. I was confused, couldn't speak and couldn't move my right arm or leg.

Dark place indeed.

You likely recognize the verse above from the 23rd Psalm, one of the most often-quoted chapter in the Bible. It begins "The Lord is my shepherd... ." You might be even more familiar with other translations, including the King James version with its famous "valley of the shadow of death" phrase.

Today, though, consider that you have a comforter when you are in the dark. God is with you. You are never alone.

Stroke risk factors that need a solution

If you've read much of this blog, you've seen items about smoking, diet and other stroke risk factors. Click here to read a compilation.

But are you always in complete control of those risk factors? Or does just living in a poor neighborhood up stroke risk?:

Women and men of all races in the poorest neighborhoods were more likely to suffer a stroke than those in the richer neighborhoods. This held true even after the researchers adjusted for other factors such as age, race, sex and region of the country.

Cartoonist shares his personal stroke story

Chance are, you have a stroke story, or you know someone who has a stroke story. Every year, thousands of new stroke stories are generated.

The second part of today's news is that the cartoon "Nancy" is still published. I subscribe to two newspapers (yes, actual paper newspapers) and neither publishes "Nancy," which I remember from my youth.

So I almost missed the story of the current "Nancy" cartoonist, who uses his personal story to highlight stroke awareness:

[Guy] Gilchrist credits the minor event in his youth for motivating him to give up his unhealthy, stress-filled “rock-n-roll lifestyle” and go all-in on his craft. A second medical event – perhaps another minor stroke – in his 40s served as a powerful reminder, snapping him back into a healthy lifestyle that he now maintains at age 59.

Finding time to tune in to nature

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.

-George Washington Carver

It's my favorite time of the year - fall.

Temperatures are cooler but not cold, ideal for being outdoors. The leaves turn and crunch underfoot. The sky turns an amazing blue.

I'm fortunate to live near a trail, lined with trees with frequent sightings of deer, rabbits, squirrels and birds. This time of year, it's often dark when I start running on the trail, and not long ago, I could hear an owl nearby along the route.

Then I stumbled across the quote from George Washington Carver about nature, God's unlimited broadcasting station.

Be sure to tune in.

Inhaling secondhand smoke? It's linked to higher risk of stroke

Here's yet another reason to stop smoking (or better yet, never start). Researchers found that secondhand smoke is linked to higher risk of stroke:

Researchers found that never-smokers who had a stroke were nearly 50 percent more likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke at home than people who had never had a stroke.

During the study, stroke survivors exposed to secondhand smoke were also more likely to die from any cause compared to those without secondhand smoke exposure.

What's your mantra?

If you've been here before, you might well know that I'm a distance runner. Not a fast one, but a runner just the same.

Before another dark winter sets in, I got a Road ID bracelet with my name plus phone numbers in case of emergency.

I added one more line: my running mantra. When I get tired or get in a bad mental state, I repeat to myself: "Relax. Power. Glide. God."

This is mostly stolen from Olympic runner Jeff Galloway. I'm a big fan, and his mantra is "Relax. Power. Glide."