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Dr. Mercola
March 13 2008
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Strokes Triple Among Middle-Aged Women

middle age, woman, stressStrokes have recently tripled among middle-aged women, a trend that doctors are calling “alarming.”

While only about 0.5 percent of women aged 35 to 54 had a stroke from 1988 to 1994, a federal health survey found that had increased to nearly 2 percent between 1999 and 2004.

Physicians say that the obesity epidemic is to blame for the startling rise in strokes. Women’s waists have grown by nearly two inches in the last 10 years, and women’s average body mass index rose from 27 to 29. Blood sugar levels have also increased.

The increase in strokes came despite the fact that more women are taking drugs to lower their cholesterol and blood pressure, which are both things that should lower stroke risk.

While women’s stroke risk skyrocketed, stroke risk among middle-aged men stayed the same. Researchers say the gender difference could be due to belly fat, a known risk factor for stroke.

Abdominal obesity in women rose from 47 percent to 59 percent, while the change in men was smaller.
Sources:
  • International Stroke Conference, New Orleans, LA, February 20-22, 2008


Dr. MercolaDr. Mercola's Comments:
Strokes (which are sometimes referred to as “brain attacks”) are the third leading cause of death in the United States, and they occur when the blood supply to your brain becomes blocked or reduced. This deprives your brain of necessary oxygen and nutrients, causing your brain cells to begin to die within minutes.

The reason why strokes can be so devastating is that they often occur without warning, and the longer your brain goes without oxygen, the greater your risk of lasting damage. This is one area where emergency medicine excels, as there are emergency medications that can dissolve a blood clot that is blocking blood flow to your brain.

But to be effective, you typically need to get help within one hour. So if you notice any of these signs of stroke, you should get help right away:
  • Sudden trouble walking (dizziness, loss of balance, etc.)
  • Sudden confusion
  • Sudden numbness or weakness (especially on one side of your body only)
  • Sudden trouble seeing
  • Sudden severe headache
Clearly, in the case of strokes (and most disease), prevention is your best option.

How to Prevent a Stroke

Conventionally speaking, many of the same risk factors that increase your risk of heart disease also increase your risk of stroke, and these include things like:
So will eating unprocessed, natural foods, exercising and keeping your weight at a healthy level help to reduce your risk of stroke? Absolutely.

But while these are important factors, they are not the only ones. Very high up on the list of keys to preventing a stroke is to get a handle on your stress levels.

Earlier this month, for instance, a study in Neurology of over 20,600 people found that psychological distress will greatly increase your risk of suffering from a stroke. And, the more stressed you are, the greater your risk. The researchers actually found that for every notch lower a person scored on their well-being scale, their risk of stroke increased by 11 percent!

Not surprisingly, the relationship between psychological distress and stroke was most pronounced when the stroke was fatal.

This makes perfect sense, particularly if you had a chance to watch last week’s video with Dr. David Holt about the most common cause of heart attacks. The cause is a certain type of emotional stress, but what’s interesting is what is said about the severity of the stress; in short, it’s been found that if you go longer than nine months with a moderate or severe emotional conflict, you probably won’t survive the heart attack that follows.

And as the Neurology study shows, the same goes for stroke, in that the longer you are under severe psychological distress, the greater the likelihood your stroke will be fatal.

So while you are making efforts to get your diet on the right track, and to stay physically active, please do not overlook the crucial importance of your emotional health. Choose a method, such as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), that works for you, and use it regularly, daily even, to release the past and present stresses in your life.
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Community Comments ( 45 )
 Comment on this Article
  
  
curlilox
 [ Joined on 08/07 ] [ Posted on February 25, 2008 ]
19 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
What about the typical SAD diet in America?  Bad fats, processed flours and sugars, and artificial foods not only create excess cholesterol, but put blobs of plaque on the arteries and blood vessels.  Then, you add a good dose of stress.   During stress, the blood vessels dilate.  When the stress minimizes, the arteries and blood vessels need to patch the cracks with plaque.  This creates little hills and valleys in your vessels, causing friction.  The friction can knock a chunk of plaque off, blocking an artery, and WHAM!--you have a heart attack or stroke!

The SAD diet in America contributes majorly or the obesity epidemic.  Garbage put in to the body has to go somewhere!  Most of this "food" is GMO, and the body doesn't recognize it as food but as a toxin.  It ends up storing it in FAT cells.  It's no wonder that people are overweight!  The body is CRYING out for some good nutrition!

And, yes, Russ, most of the GMO food is loaded with HFCS!
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
moo
 		[ Joined on 11/06 ]  [ Posted on February 25, 2008]
8 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
curlilox,
how do you know if a food is gmo grown like potatoes or corn, etc?  they sure don't tell you.   if i shop at whole foods i'm pretty sure its ok but what if you eat out or get food at reg. grocery stores?
Mercola
  
curlilox
 		[ Joined on 08/07 ]  [ Posted on February 25, 2008]
15 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Moo,
I have been told that any "food" that has been processed before we buy it probably has GMO's in it.  Otherwise, there is a lableing system used in every store with fresh produce.  The stickers on every piece of produce has a number which is a code that will tell us whether it is bioengineered, organically grown, or conventionally grown (with chemicals).  Here is the key:

--A 4 digit number means the produce has been conventionally grown using herbicides or pesticides
.
--An organically grown fruit or veggie has a 5 digit number beginning with the number 9

--Genetially modified produce has a 5 digit number beginning with an 8.

I don't know about potatoes.  I haven't seen numbers on the bags.(I just looked)  And being a grain farmer, I know it is very difficult to find sweet corn seed that isn't GMO.  Corn is something we don't eat much of for that reason.  Otherwise, I'm a big advocate of praying over my food, asking God to sancify it before I eat!!
Blessings!
Mercola
  
qualitygeek
 		[ Joined on 10/07 ]  [ Posted on February 25, 2008]
3 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Moo, you don't want to eat spuds & corn anyway....neither are particularly good for you....
Mercola
  
SpartyOn
 		[ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
1 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

curlilox:

You often bring new information to the table and I appreciate that.  Thank you.
  
  
Russ Bianchi
 [ Joined on 09/06 ] [ Posted on February 22, 2008 ]
19 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
At 94 pounds per year per person in the USA, of High Fructose Corn Syrup consumption, which directly converts to triglycerides or stored body fat, leading and contrbuting to cardio vascular disease, many forms of cancer, high blood pressure, stress, obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, is it any suprise that higher incidents of strokes in this age group are being reported? NO!
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
foxtroter
 		[ Joined on 09/06 ]  [ Posted on February 22, 2008]
19 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Nothing more to be said on the subject.
Mercola
  
mmc88121
 		[ Joined on 11/06 ]  [ Posted on February 22, 2008]
14 Points        
   
Moderator User
  Mercola
It is the HFCS, that causes the obesity, which it turns increases the strokes

Mary
Mercola
  
shaneperrone
 		[ Joined on 11/07 ]  [ Posted on February 25, 2008]
12 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Although i wonder if birth control affected this study as well (if they took that into consideration)
Still though, that HFCS is some nasty stuff.
Mercola
  
Bryan - oz4caster
 		[ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on February 25, 2008]
8 Points        
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola
I suspect high amounts of polyunsaturated omega-6 fats as well as artificial trans-fats in the Standard American Diet are also a big part of this problem in addition to way too much sugar in general.  Even table sugar is 50% fructose.

The solution is simple, drop the factory processed/packaged fake foods and get back to eating the real foods our ancestors ate.  And break that sugar addiction if you have it!  Think of sugar as an addicting toxin.
Mercola
  
qualitygeek
 		[ Joined on 10/07 ]  [ Posted on February 25, 2008]
7 Points        
   
Savvy User
  Mercola
Since that 94# per year is an average, there's plenty of someones out there taking in way more than 94# per year because they are consuming (most of/part of/all of) ours also...
  
  
Cheryl Rounds
 [ Joined on 10/06 ] [ Posted on February 27, 2008 ]
17 Points        
   
 
Apprentice User
If cholesterol is the body's patch agaianst the nicks caused by free radical damage in the arteries.  And if  cholesterol lowering meds reduce the amount of cholesterol available to patch these arteries.  And if strokes are caused by leaky arteries.  Then one would expect to see an increase in the number of strokes in todays populations.that are prescribed cholesterol lowering pharmaceuticals.  Why are the researchers so suprised?
 [ Reply ]
  
  
PepperR23
 [ Joined on 06/06 ] [ Posted on February 25, 2008 ]
15 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
I think that the current trend of physicians to prescribe anti-cholesterol meds to women over fifty, many of whom do not even have high cholesterol, is contributing to the rise in strokes in these patients.  Until the truth about these harmful medications is fully understood and they are finally taken off the market will we see this trend begin to reverse itself.
 [ Reply ]
  
  
seg
 [ Joined on 11/06 ] [ Posted on February 25, 2008 ]
14 Points        
   
 
Savvy User
"The rise came even though more women are taking medicines to control their cholesterol and blood pressure".

Unless the current recommendations of High Carb/ lowfat myths are dispelled, you would see and continue to see an alarming and increasing rate of ALL DISEASES; irregardless of all the useless worthless drugs administered. The current health pyramid needs to be placed on it's head, or better yet chucked out for good- same to the individual who recommended it....

Give me back my whole natural unadulterated foods like  grass fed meats, eggies, organic veggies, olives, nuts, seeds, avacodos etc and leave the  fast foods, grains, sugars, cereals, sodas on the grocery shelves where they belong, NOT FOR YOU AND ME !!!!!!
 [ Reply ]
Mercola
  
SpartyOn
 		[ Joined on 06/06 ]  [ Posted on March 13, 2008]
       
   
Apprentice User
  Mercola

As usual, I agree with Seg.
  
  
Charisse
 [ Joined on 10/07 ] [ Posted on February 22, 2008 ]
14 Points