High blood pressure and smoking increase the risk of stroke
The most dangerous disease in female menopause is stroke. Life is in danger and many patients suffer from sequelae such as body paralysis and speech impairment, which also cause pain to their families. Recently, the rate of cerebral infarction where blood vessels are blocked has increased compared to cerebral hemorrhage where blood vessels leading to the brain burst. Similar to the West, it accounts for 70-80% of strokes. Let’s check what is essential to prevent vascular diseases.
◆ Brain tissue… Once you fall into necrosis due to a stroke, it is not easy to recover.
When a stroke occurs, the degree of difference is different, but the aftereffects remain. The way to fundamentally resolve the burden of such a stroke is to prevent the disease itself. Stroke risk factors such as high blood pressure and smoking are well known, but many people cannot manage them. Uncontrollable risk factors such as age and genetics are inevitable, but controllable risk factors must be managed. This can reduce the risk of stroke.
◆ Decreased estrogen + increased high blood pressure… Menopausal women, double pain
During female menopause, estrogen (female hormone), which protected blood vessels when young, gradually disappears, causing blood vessels to lose elasticity. Hypertension increases and increases the risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. If you repeat wrong lifestyle habits such as eating salty foods and lack of exercise at this time, the chance of being at risk of stroke increases. High blood pressure has no symptoms, so you may not know it worsens into heart disease or stroke. Blood pressure should be managed from time to time to prevent the disease from getting worse.
◆ Hypertension, the most prevalent risk factor
Weight loss, low-fat and low-salt diet, exercise, and smoking cessation are recommended for the prevention and treatment of hypertension. If needed, medications can also be used to lower blood pressure. As recommended by the Korean Stroke Society, the goal of blood pressure control for primary prevention of stroke is to keep the goal below 140/90 mmHg in the general population and below 130/80 mmHg in patients with diabetes and stroke. renal.
◆ Smoking, an important independent risk factor for cerebral infarction
Smoking has both an acute effect of creating blood clots in narrowed arteries and a chronic effect of causing atherosclerosis in which blood vessels harden. Smoking is an important independent risk factor for cerebral infarction in all ages and genders. Compared to non-smokers, smokers are twice as likely to have a stroke. Secondhand smoke should also be avoided. Smoking increases the risk not only of lung cancer, which occurs frequently in middle-aged and older people, but also of cancers such as stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer and bladder cancer.
◆ Hyperlipidaemia, diabetes… Beware of increased cholesterol
Diabetes is also one of the main modifiable risk factors. Diabetes is associated with 15-33% of patients with cerebral infarction and is known to be an important predictor of stroke recurrence. Hyperlipidemia and dyslipidemia are also major risk factors. Specifically, the risk of stroke in women is related to increases in total blood cholesterol and low-density cholesterol (LDL). Eating a balanced diet, including moderate amounts of meat and lots of fruits and vegetables can help.
