Exercise - a tool to prevent future strokes

One reason that I keep running - aside from my pure and plain addiction - is to prevent future health problems. That includes, experts consistently say, another stroke.

You don't have to run - even gardening would help - but a recent news article reminds us that exercise is a key to preventing more strokes:

"The effects on already damaged tissue can be that much worse," Dr. Mark Gordon, a physiatry physician, told a crowd of stroke survivors and their family members earlier this month as part of National Stroke Awareness Month activities at St. Luke’s Rehabilitation Institute.

Within five years of having their first stroke, 25 percent of female stroke victims and 50 percent of male victims will have another, Gordon said.

The articles gives some tips to avoid a second (or more) stroke: Exercise every day. Limit your alcohol intake. Lower your blood pressure. Stop smoking. Talk to your doctor. Read the article for more details on most of these.