Saunas seem to help lower blood pressure, might prevent strokes

Now, here's some news I can appreciate - saunas might lower stroke risk:

Middle-aged and elderly men and women who had four to seven hot, dry sauna bathing sessions a week were 60% less likely to have a stroke over a 15-year period than those who had one weekly session, reported Setor Kunutsor, PhD, of the University of Bristol, U.K., and colleagues online in Neurology.

These results "are very strong and consistent, given that we have previously shown that sauna use reduces the risk of cardiovascular mortality," Kunutsor told MedPage Today.
Saunas -- which are found in nearly every home in Finland -- have been linked to lower cardiovascular disease and overall mortality, but have not been studied in stroke until now.

"Sauna appears to have a blood pressure-lowering effect," Kunutsor said. "Since the majority of strokes can be attributed to hypertension, sauna use may reduce the risk of stroke via reduction in blood pressure." Sauna also may stimulate the immune system, stabilize the autonomic nervous system, and reduce inflammation, oxidative stress, arterial stiffness, and vascular resistance, he noted 

Get a flu shot - and perhaps decrease your stroke risk

Have you had your flu shot yet?

Especially if you're an older adult, the flu increases your risk of stroke or heart attack. Flu can have a dangerous domino effect on older adults:

"Not as well known: In the two weeks to a month after you recover from influenza, you have a three to five times increased risk of having a heart attack," Schaffner said in a university news release. "You have a two to three times increased risk of having a stroke.

"Nobody wants a heart attack or a stroke, so by preventing flu, you prevent this inflammatory response and you can help prevent those strokes and heart attacks," Schaffner said.

Seniors account for more than half of flu-related hospitalizations caused by influenza and more than 80 percent of flu-related deaths, he said, so it's especially important for seniors to get a flu shot.

Modifiable stroke risks still rising across all ages, races

Most - not all, but most - strokes are preventable. Experts have been know for years that risk factors include high blood pressure, smoking and high cholesterol. All addressable issues. Yet, as NPR reported not long ago, modifiable stroke risks are still rising across all ages and races:

For years, doctors have been warning us that high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, illegal drug use and diabetes increase our chances of having a potentially fatal stroke.

And yet, most of the stroke patients showing up at hospitals from 2004 to 2014 had one or more of these risk factors. And the numbers of people at risk in this way tended to grow among all age groups and ethnicities in that time period. 

Stopping aspirin therapy may raise heart attack, stroke risk

Aspirin - cheap and perhaps lifesaving. So read how stopping aspirin therapy may raise heart attack, stroke risk:

Stopping low-dose aspirin therapy without good reason raises the likelihood of heart attack or stroke by nearly 40 percent, a large Swedish study suggests.

Doctors commonly prescribe daily low-dose aspirin after a heart attack to reduce the risk of having a second cardiovascular event. But about one in six patients stop taking their aspirin within three years, the study authors note in Circulation.

Closure of hole in the heart reduces stroke recurrence

A still from the video of my PFO being closed.
Click here to view the video.

If you've read this blog before, you might know that my hole-in-the-heart was closed 10 years ago. Click here to read details.

The hole is called a patent foramen ovale, or PFO. It's an opening between the upper chambers of the heart. We're all born with one, but it's normally closed shortly after birth. For some, though, it remains. For some people, blood clots can pass from one side to the other, getting pumped out to the arteries and eventually in the brain, causing a stroke.

After years of decline, South sees rise in stroke deaths

Even though the South is also know as the Stroke Belt, we've seen a decline in stroke deaths - until now. In the most recent numbers, stroke deaths are rising in the South:

In its monthly Vital Signs report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that stroke deaths are on the rise in the South in recent years after decades of decline, and rates are stagnant in other states. While stroke deaths have declined more than 76 percent since 1968 among adults 35 and older, and 38 percent since 2000, that decline has roughly leveled off or even increased in most states since 2013, according to the report. That includes an overall 4 percent increase in the South, with a 3 percent increase in Georgia and a whopping 10.8 percent increase in Florida.

“This is an important wake-up call,” said Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, director of the CDC and a former Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health. It is particularly alarming among those ages 35-64, which made up a third of the more than 32,000 “excess stroke deaths,” those who died from stroke who might not have had the death rates continued their decline.

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.

How heart health is linked to brain health

You've seen this theme before - exercise is linked to decreased stroke risk. This study looked at heart health, brain size, and what it means - how heart health is linked to brain health later in life:

Those who scored high at the start were more likely to have higher brain volume when they reached middle age. The study authors say that every point lower a person scored on the Life's Simple 7 corresponded with about one year of age-related brain shrinkage.

"Larger brain volume, relative to head size, is associated with better health," explains study author Michael Bancks, a postdoctoral fellow in preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in an email to TIME. "Brain atrophy — smaller brain volume — is associated with death and disability." Prior studies have linked smaller brain size to lower cognitive function scores and an increased risk for health events like stroke in middle age and beyond.

May is Stroke Awareness Month: How aware are you?

May is Stroke Awareness Month. It's important to be aware of stroke signs, what to do and how to prevent strokes - and not only in a single month.

Why? A stroke can strike anyone. Strokes do not respect age, social status or wealth. My own stroke happened in May 1998. Outwardly, I was healthy - a longtime distance runner - and under 40.

I received a chart showing basic information about strokes, signs and prevention from Crouse Hospital of Syracuse, N.Y., and wanted to share its good information for this month. It's not an ad as far as I'm concerned, but rather information for you to retain and share.

Click on the chart and check it out.

Many at risk for stroke don’t get anti-clotting drugs

Stroke prevention can save a life. Yet, many at risk for stroke don’t get anti-clotting drugs:

More than four in five stroke patients with a history of heart rhythm problems didn’t get any blood thinners, or didn’t take enough to help prevent a stroke before they had one, a U.S. study suggests.

Most strokes occur when a clot blocks an artery carrying blood to the brain, known as an ischemic stroke. The study focused on more than 94,000 stroke patients with atrial fibrillation, an irregular rapid heartbeat that can lead to stroke, heart failure and chronic fatigue.

Story of a clinical trial provides serious food for thought

A still from the video of my PFO closure.
Click here to watch the video.

Something to think about: Clinical trials are necessary but can be thought-provoking.

The Houston Chronicle recently published a look at a clinical trial to find answers about closing a heart defect called a patent foramen ovale, or a PFO. It's potentially a stroke-causing defect. It was the probable cause of my stroke in 1998. It got patched up in 2007. You can click here to read about it.

But even though mine was fixed almost 10 years ago, it didn't end the controversy over whether the procedure - done in a cardiac catheterization lab - was really better than treating the defect with medication. One of my personal choices involved not taking blood-thinning warfarin - click here to read about it - for the rest of my life.

Undiagnosed and untreated - what's your blood pressure?

Last week, the focus was global hypertension problems. Now, in a North American study, we learn that high blood pressure is often undiagnosed, untreated:

For the study, the researchers measured the blood pressure of almost 1,100 volunteers. The measurements were taken at mobile clinics that the researchers had set up at shopping malls, workplaces, hospitals and community centers in a large city.

The study revealed that 50 percent of the participants were unaware they had high blood pressure. Of these people, 2 percent were at very high risk for health complications.

The findings were published online Jan. 5 in the American Journal of Hypertension.

"What is particularly significant about this study is that a surprisingly large number of participants exhibited some type of hypertensive urgency or emergency," study author Dr. Grant Pierce said in a journal news release. Pierce is executive director of research at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg.

Most of the people with high blood pressure weren't being treated even if they had been diagnosed. The study authors suggested that either these people didn't fully understand their condition, or they didn't understand the health consequences associated with high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is the leading cause of strokes. Taking it seriously might save a life.

The world is experiencing a high blood pressure increase

High blood pressure - hypertension - is the leading risk factor for strokes.

So the news is a little frightening - high blood pressure is increasing worldwide:

"There are almost 900 million people in the world with hypertension, and there are almost 3.5 billion people with elevated blood pressure that doesn't quite meet the definition of hypertension," said study lead author Christopher Murray. He directs the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle.

"Blood pressure is the leading cause of premature death and disability in the world," Murray said.

Blood pressure is made up of two numbers. The top number, called systolic pressure, measures the pressure in the arteries when blood is being pumped from the heart. The bottom number, the diastolic pressure, measures pressure between heartbeats. Blood pressure is expressed in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg).

The study authors said that even systolic blood pressure within what is considered a normal range -- less than 120/80 mm Hg, according to the American Heart Association -- can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke.

It's important to pay attention to your blood pressure and if needed, work with your health professionals to control it.

(Photo from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

More worrisome numbers about strokes striking the young

You've read about this concern here before: People designated as "older" Americans are seeing better numbers in stroke rates, while younger people are seeing a rise.

Now, we get some more solid statistics comparing the "Golden Generation" vs. "Generation X" with a finding of strokes decline in older Americans, rise in young:

"People born during what I call the 'Golden Generation,' 1945 to 1954, had lower rates of stroke than those born 20 years before them and also in the 20 years after them," said lead researcher Joel Swerdel. He is a Ph.D. candidate at the Rutgers University School of Public Health in New Jersey.

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.

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.

It's not just money - it's affecting lives

Earlier this week, there was a posting about young people and strokes. Today, it's about the cost of care for elderly stroke survivors.

Now, cost is not a pleasant topic. It smacks of talk about death squads, rationing and other politically divisive terms.

But, how about we do agree on this: Preventing a stroke can save lives and resources that can always be used elsewhere. So, keep in mind stroke prevention in reading how caring for elderly stroke survivors costs an estimated $40 billion per year:

Using data from a national survey of Medicare beneficiaries, the team compared 892 elderly self-reported stroke survivors to 892 non-stroke controls, accounting for demographics and other health conditions, like hypertension, coronary heart disease or dementia.

Another chapter of: To close or not to close

A still from the video of my PFO closure.
Click here to watch a video.

The arguments continue: To close or not to close.

Back in 2007, after a mini-stroke that spring, I had a heart procedure designed to close a hole in my heart called a patent foramen ovale (PFO). It's a hole between the upper two chambers of the heart and was blamed for my 1998 stroke and the 2007 mini-stroke. I was taking a blood-thinner at the time.

You can read the story about the procedure, including video, by following this link.

Now, the American Academy of Neurology says we should not routinely close the hole. Others disagree. Click on the link after reading this snippet on how AAN nixes routine PFO closure:

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure is not recommended as a routine therapy for patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke, according to the American Academy of Neurology (AAN).

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.