In China, the mortality rate of stroke is as high as 20%, and the percentage of disability is also very high even if it is prevented from a death. There are 2.5 million new strokes in China every year and about 6-7 million surviving strokes, 3/4 of which have varying degrees of sequelae, with severe disabilities accounting for more than 40%. Today (October 29) is World Stroke Day, and stroke is a very high prevalence disease in China. Every 12 seconds, someone in China faces this disease, and what’s worse is that 20% of people will not survive the ordeal and pass away, leaving most of the rest with lifelong regrets. It is also ranked as the second most deadly disease in China by the authoritative journal “The Lancet”. Stroke, commonly known as “stroke”, has a very high morbidity, disability and mortality rate. It is a group of diseases in which ischemia and hemorrhagic damage to the brain are the main clinical manifestations. Stroke is mainly divided into two categories: hemorrhagic stroke (cerebral hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage) and ischemic stroke (cerebral infarction, cerebral thrombosis), of which cerebral infarction is the most common. Some data indicate that one person suffers from a stroke every 12 seconds. Due to inappropriate lifestyle and diet structure, China now has a huge number of chronic disease groups such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, and these people are also at high risk of stroke. When it comes to stroke, most people think of symptoms such as crooked mouth and paralyzed limbs, but in fact, stroke can have a variety of aura. The most common ones include movement disorders, speech disorders, swallowing disorders, and so on. World surveillance results over the past 20 years show that the incidence of stroke has decreased by 42% in developed countries over the past 40 years, but has doubled in developing countries, with an annual growth rate of 8.7% in stroke deaths. Strokes can easily take a person’s life, and celebrities are no exception. Stalin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the former Soviet Union, Churchill, Keizo Obuchi, Prime Minister of Japan, Sharon, Prime Minister of Israel, and Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, all died of strokes. In China, the mortality rate of stroke is as high as 20%, and the percentage of disability is very high even if one is spared. There are 2.5 million new stroke patients in China every year, and about 6-7 million stroke patients survive, 3/4 of whom have varying degrees of sequelae, with severe disability accounting for more than 40%. Once a patient has the disease, he or she may lose his or her life, be paralyzed in bed, or have varying degrees of aphasia. Over time, the patients themselves feel pain, and their families are overwhelmed by the economic and mental burdens, and it is a great disaster for poor families. Among them, more than 10% of stroke patients will die suddenly due to recurrence, which is more and also very serious. Usually the recurrence rate of old cerebral infarction is very high and is much higher than the percentage of people who have not had a stroke. 5 red flags 5 red flags of stroke: pulsating tinnitus, frequent yawning, transient weakness, headache (headache in this case refers to a sudden, idiopathic headache, an experience different from previous headaches), and transient visual disturbance (partial visual field loss, double vision). Pulsatile tinnitus suggests that there may be a narrowing of the blood vessels and a disturbance in the blood flow, or there may be a change caused by an acceleration of the blood flow itself or a change in the composition of the blood, all of which can cause a person to have a sound like a pulsating pulse in the tinnitus as well. Occasional pulsating tinnitus is normal once or twice, but persistent pulsating tinnitus is something to be wary of. If this occurs, the patient may be in the “12-second line” for a stroke. Frequent yawning This is also a red flag for stroke. Yawning is a common behavior for many people, but what is the relationship between yawning and stroke? In fact, yawning is a red flag when it becomes so frequent that the patient may not be able to concentrate on the work that he or she is usually very good at, resulting in reduced ability to work and memory, especially when factors such as staying up late and being tired are excluded. Frequent yawning often indicates that the brain is in a state of ischemia and hypoxia, which is an autolytic reaction of the body. Before the occurrence of many strokes, especially ischemic strokes, the cerebral blood vessels may already be in a state of narrowing and insufficient blood supply, leading to frequent yawning, especially in the 5-10 days before the stroke, which is prone to frequent yawning. Short-lived weakness In addition, sudden discomfort in the knees when walking, sudden inability to hold chopsticks, inexplicable dropping of something in the hand to the ground, inability to write clearly, etc. If such short-lived weakness occurs frequently, a stroke should also be highly suspected. This is often a case where an unstable blood clot has developed and it is too late to go to the hospital to solve the problem. When it becomes a persistent weakness, it is an obvious brain infarction. However, transient weakness is particularly easy for people to overlook. Headache A severe headache that has not been experienced before may also be a red flag for stroke. Headaches in different locations of the head are indicative of different diseases. Excluding poor sleep, neck and shoulder problems, etc., the sudden appearance of a distinctive headache may require special attention. Headaches that are partial, whole-brain, or leaning back often suggest changes in structures in the brain associated with the headache, and it is both a precursor and a sign that a stroke has occurred, especially in the case of brain hemorrhage. Transient visual disturbances In addition, early visual disturbances may be easily overlooked. Very brief transient black haze in which the eyes suddenly turn black, and in advanced stages visual field deficits that produce bumping into things around you when you walk. The sudden onset of double vision is a sign that the body may be experiencing a sudden illness. Transient black haze may be due to a transient ischemia in the head that affects the ophthalmic artery, resulting in a sudden loss of vision in one eye, so pay particular attention to transient black haze in one eye. In summary, all five of these easily overlooked conditions may signal the approach of a dangerous disease – a stroke. If you rank these five red flags, transient weakness is the most important, and it often signals that an unstable blood clot has occurred, followed by transient visual disturbance, pulsating tinnitus, headache, and frequent yawning. These 4 risky behaviors In our daily life, we will not only ignore the danger signals, but also ignore some risky behaviors, which will increase the risk of stroke and directly lead to early persecution of the disease. And how do we avoid it? The first major risk behavior is related to sleep. Many strokes occur during sleep, and 2-4 a.m. is the high incidence of stroke. The normal blood pressure fluctuation chart in 24 hours is a spoon type of blood pressure, which happens to be at the most low pressure stage at 2-4 am, when the blood supply to the whole brain is the worst time, and if the patient himself has a local stenosis of the cerebral vessels, it is more likely to have a stroke in the early morning. In addition, the state of snoring during sleep may indicate whether there is a disease envelope, snoring with apnea or even a very long period of cessation, are dangerous, 50% of stroke patients have sleep breathing disorders. It is especially important to note that those who go to bed immediately after dinner have a higher risk of stroke than those who go to bed one hour after the meal, so this is a very bad habit and doctors recommend going to bed two hours after the meal. The second risky behavior is related to sudden cold stimulation. Cold stimulation causes the elasticity of blood vessels to become brittle, increasing the risk of blood vessel rupture or blood clot formation, which increases the risk of stroke. When a cold snap comes, some older people with poor body conditioning may be “shot”. The elasticity of human blood vessels, especially those on the skin surface, decreases in response to cold stimulation, which can easily cause blood pressure to rise, thus causing blood vessel rupture; and cold stimulation can increase the body’s fibrin, which is an important component in the formation of blood clots, and its increased concentration may lead to the formation of blood clots; in addition, temperature changes may lead to colds and even some infections, which can also increase the risk of brain rupture or blood clot formation. In addition, temperature changes may lead to colds and even some infections, which may stimulate the blood vessels and increase the risk of cerebrovascular disease. Therefore, especially the older people must pay attention to keep warm when the weather changes. The third most dangerous behavior is improper neck movement. Recently, 40-year-old Mr. Zhu was rushed to the hospital for a sudden stroke, but the cause of the stroke was related to his “exercise” cervical vertebrae, he usually exercises often stretch their necks until they twist rattling to be comfortable. The blood vessels in the neck are prone to twisting damage during excessive strenuous activity, and if the blood vessels themselves have lesions such as atherosclerosis, coupled with the tearing of the intima caused by strenuous exercise, arterial entrapment will occur, which will cause occlusion of the blood vessels and lead to ischemia and stroke. The fourth most dangerous behavior from incorrect massage. A simple massage can lead to such a big health crisis? In fact, the neck blood vessels are basically exposed, massage inappropriate, rough action on the blood vessels will have extrusion, plus blood vessels if the underlying pathology itself, it will increase the damage to the blood vessels blocking the formation of blood clots. Should avoid random vigorous massage and avoid going to irregular locations for irregular massage. And in the barbershop shampoo chair behind the protruding part, may also increase the risk of thrombosis of the blood vessels in the neck with underlying lesions. 3 life-preserving elements The understanding of the four risky behaviors allows us to avoid making risky behaviors that increase the risk of suffering a stroke, but this alone is not enough, advance prevention to minimize the chance of stroke. Therefore, it may be more likely to develop vascular disease by leaving the three major life-preserving elements that can reduce the risk of stroke – resveratrol, copper, and aspirin (salicylic acid). Resveratrol The discovery of the first thing is more interesting. In the European diet structure, fat calories are very high, but the French have a lower incidence of atherosclerotic disease, why is that? Scientists later found that it has to do with a drink that the French cannot live without in their daily lives – dry red wine. It was found that the resveratrol in dry red wine can play an anti-lipid oxidation role in our blood, and can also reduce the viscosity of blood and have a slightly good effect on blood vessel dilation. But many people will worry that daily consumption of wine will cause damage to the liver, in fact, there is another food that contains dozens of times more resveratrol than wine – peanut buds, peanut buds in resveratrol is 100 times higher than peanuts. Copper The second life-preserving element is copper, which is very important to the elderly. If the blood vessel wall is repaired without the help of copper, it will be broken by the rapid blood flow, especially when a very high pressure blood flow passes through it causing the blood vessel wall to bleed, and that is a very serious stroke. The good thing is, copper is often present in our daily diet, such as cowpeas, is the same as the most amount of copper in vegetables, in addition, oysters, red meat is also high in copper content. However, it is worth noting that people with liver disease should still limit their intake of copper. Aspirin (salicylic acid) And the third life-preserving element can reduce platelet aggregation and control the formation of blood clots. In fact, all patients with confirmed cardiovascular disease take aspirin, and patients with risk factors are often asked by their doctors to take aspirin. One of the most important components of aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, and the apples we commonly eat are very high in salicylic acid. It seems that the English saying “an apple a day, keep doctors away” has a scientific reason. The only thing that matters most in an emergency stroke is speed Stroke symptoms The most common symptom of stroke is sudden weakness of the face, arm or leg, often on one side of the body. Other symptoms include sudden: numbness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body; confusion, difficulty speaking or understanding words; blurred vision in one or both eyes; difficulty walking, dizziness, unsteady or uncoordinated walking; unexplained severe headache; fainting or loss of consciousness. The consequences of a stroke depend on the location and severity of the brain injury. A stroke attack can affect only one part of the body, such as the face, one upper or one lower extremity, or it can be total paralysis of one half of the body. Sudden death can occur in severe strokes. What to do if you have a stroke If you notice anyone showing signs of a stroke, you should call a doctor or ambulance immediately or take the patient to the emergency department of the nearest hospital. Since strokes can progress, it is important to do this even if the symptoms are not severe. The level of health care varies from place to place, and the level of treatment needed depends on the severity of the stroke. If you arrive at the hospital within 3 hours of the first symptoms of a stroke, your doctor will immediately use thrombolytic drugs to dissolve the blood clots in the arteries. The choice of treatment plan is of course based on the exact cause of the stroke. To diagnose the type of stroke, your doctor will ask about your medical history, perform a physical examination, and do relevant tests such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations. These tests will determine whether the patient has an ischemic stroke (caused by a blockage) or a hemorrhagic stroke (caused by a rupture of a blood vessel in the brain). The doctor will prescribe medications to help relieve symptoms, prevent a recurrence of the stroke, and will instruct the patient to make lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of stroke. Patients who follow these recommendations will have the best expected outcome. It is important to listen carefully to your doctor’s instructions and ask questions whenever you have them. Some patients need specialized surgical procedures to cut through blocked carotid arteries, such as carotid endarterectomy or carotid stenting, to help prevent strokes.