Where were you born? If you're from the 'stroke belt,' you might be in danger

Geography if often a key health indicator. Now, a recent study shows that being born in the U.S. "stroke belt" is tied to higher risk of dementia:

For the current study, researchers examined data on 7,423 adults living in Northern California, including 1,166 people born in high stroke-mortality states - all but one in the South: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, South Carolina and West Virginia.

At age 65, the risk of developing dementia in the next 20 years was 30 percent for people born in these states, compared to 21 percent for those born elsewhere, the study found.

The lifestyle battle: Key for stroke survivors

Never thought about post-stroke life like this idea - unlike, say, cancer, you're never "cured" exactly. Rather, every day without another stroke is a win.

Read this interesting take how pre-stroke lifestyle tied to long term risk of more strokes, dementia:

Unlike a condition such as cancer, where if you undergo treatment successfully and survive ten years we might say “you battled it, you’re cured,” increased health risks remain after a stroke, Ikram said. This shouldn’t be discouraging, but should encourage people before or after stroke to do what they can to prevent another, he said.

“Once you suffer a stroke, treatment shifts toward medication and simple preventive measures are pushed to the background,” Ikram said. “Don’t neglect the simple things like quitting smoking, exercising more and controlling blood pressure.”

I won't argue with the idea of quitting smoking, which is one of the deadliest thing a human can do,  or with controlling blood pressure, the leading cause of strokes.

What people can't see can still be real

Photo by Allan Ajifo

I can relate to this. I have no physical signs from my stroke. But I certainly felt the affects of aphasia (click here to read more about aphasia). Most are now gone, but for some these "hidden disabilities" are more long term.

Here's a relevant look at “hidden” disabilities after stroke:

Williams said she thinks that her disabilities aren’t taken as seriously as physical challenges.

Efforts to save lives and minds

Stroke prevention - in the main - calls for basic actions to reduce risk factors. And those efforts can pay off in the long run, including reducing dementia that often sets in years after a stroke occurs.

While these actions to reduce stroke and dementia risk can't reduce the risks by 100 percent, they are logical and smart, as reported by MedlinePlus:

Over the course of five years, patients treated by doctors focused on reducing risk factors saw their need for long-term care drop by about 10 percent compared to the communities that didn't have this intervention. The study also showed that the cost of inpatient treatment for these patients was reduced.

The researchers believe a focus on curbing stroke and dementia risk factors decreased the number of deaths in the intervention group from the expected 2,112 people to just 1,939.

In order to prevent stroke and dementia, doctors encouraged patients to:

• Get more exercise
• Eat a healthier diet
• Stop smoking
• Reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels

Read the entire article from the above link.

(Image from the National Library of Medicine)