Yo-Yoing BP Levels Post-Stroke Attack Raises Risk of Death

Stabilizing BP Levels are Mandatory to Avoid Post-stroke Mishaps

Blood pressure has once again proved itself to be a silent killer! Its effect on stroke is two-dimensional. BP has the potential to increase the risk of stroke and once stroke affects the person it has the potential to increase the risk of death. Stroke is one of the deadliest conditions that can have debilitating effects on a person when it is not diagnosed immediately. The chances of recovery depend on how soon or late the person was diagnosed with stroke. Though men are maximum affected by stroke it’s more than 60% of women population who suffer from death due to stroke.
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Post-stroke Effects
While anxiety, frustration, mood swings, depression and irritation are commonly seen in individuals after stroke (when the part of the brain dealing with emotions is affected) there are bigger problems that can collapse the entire rehabilitation program and worsen a person’s life.

A group of researchers wanted to understand whether fluctuating blood pressure readings after stroke could increase the risk of death. For this, they analyzed 1,947 patients for their BP readings some four or five times within 24 hours of stroke. After controlling various factors, they found that patients whose readings had increased systolic blood pressure measurements (the higher number) were at an increased risk of death within 90 days. The research team also came up with a suggestion that such BP variations could be corrected with calcium channel blockers (this helps to decrease variability) rather than using beta blockers that increase variability in readings. But this has been revoked by few others who feel that BP medications just to control variations are not acceptable and one must look at various other underlying factors. There are serious doubts whether such fluctuations are due to other conditions such as high levels of inflammation or stiff arteries.

Pre-Stroke Effect
Fluctuations in blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol and body mass index has the potential to increase the risk of stroke and heart attack in individuals. A study on this showed that those with larger variations were at a maximum risk of death followed by risk of heart attack and stroke. The study also showed that those with maximum risk belonged to the older age group and were mostly women. Above all this, the one point mentioned by this research team that calls for maximum attention is that almost 99% health problems linked to heart attack and stroke are due to our lifestyles. So again, the ball is in our court.

Style has ruled our wardrobes but has never bothered us to change our approach to life-Yes, of course I am talking about lifestyle. Take up a discussion on any disease or disorder and finally we end up blaming our lifestyle other than a few rare ones for which genes are blamable. Despite its importance why don’t we ever bother to patch up our hard feelings towards our lifestyle and live a better life? Maybe the time has come now to roll up your sleeves and start redesigning your life for better health, wellness and peace. Why don’t you achieve ultimate success in in this endeavor by getting in touch with reputed dietitians and nutritionists at www.firsteatright.com who have the potential to revamp your eating habits and physical activity routines for the better?