As people age, they will eventually be more susceptible to various health conditions and illnesses. Among the more fatal health issue is stroke. It means that we should have the right decision and make the right action long before stroke happens. Many people have little knowledge about stroke and it is important for them to be educated properly. In many cases, we should be able to prevent stroke and the condition could significantly damage our brain. Ischemic or blocked blood vessel can prevent the blood from flowing into our brain. Hemorrhagic stroke is a different condition and it is caused by rupture of blood vessel. This condition is also known as the bleeding of brain. Many people consider heart attack and stroke as similar things. However, they are different. Although risk factors and causes of both conditions are similar, they are actually different. There are things that we should do reduce our chance of having a stroke.

There are different symptoms of stroke, such as slurred speech, confusion, numbness and weakness. People also suffer what is commonly known as TIA (transient ischemic attack) or mini stroke. This condition could fade rapidly and it doesn’t develop into a full-blown stroke. However, we should be aware that people are affected with episodes of mini stroke are much more likely to get real stroke. Symptoms are similar to real stroke, but they are temporary. In this case, people who suffer from TIA should be aware that they are already give a “heads up” about what’s to come. Unfortunately, many people often dismiss this only as vertigo, confusion and other less dangerous conditions. Because TIA always goes away, they may be reluctant to treat their condition. It is true that temporary dizziness could be caused by inner ear problems, but it could also be caused by TIA.

In this case, we should let doctors to perform various tests, so they can determine whether we have had a TIA. For people who already grow older, it is important for them to be more cautious and consider their health conditions more seriously. Many risk factors of stroke are actually controllable. Smoking is one of the negative habits that could cause stroke more likely to happen. Being overweight, unhealthy diet, poor sleeping habits, stress and lack exercise could also cause stroke more likely to happen. Other diseases could also become risk factors of stroke, such as hypertension, high cholesterol level, diabetes and existing heart disease. After we have eliminated all controllable factors of stroke, we could be less concerned about the possibility of the disease. Unfortunately, there are various uncontrollable risk factors, such as gender, race, age, history of stroke in the family, past episodes of TUA, existing artery abnormalities and congenital heart issues. Even if have these conditions, they should actually encourage us to live a healthier lives. Factors of strokes should be seen as indicators, not a death sentence. Even people with various uncontrolled factors could have lower risks if they are able to live healthily.