Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/684252
How Can You Show You Care? You devote so much time and energy to caring for others. Learning about your stroke risk should be a priority—for your sake, and that of the people you love. You have a one in ve chance of having a stroke during your lifetime—a higher likelihood than that of your father, brother or husband. Certain risk factors, including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and inactivity, can be found in women of all ages, but two signicant ones are unique to middle- aged women. "The natural hormones present in younger women are thought to help prevent stroke," said Amy Holland, B.S.N., R.N., stroke program coordinator at CHI St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital. "The closer women get to menopause, the higher their stroke risk becomes due to the decrease in estrogen. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT ), which women may use to treat hot ashes and other symptoms of menopause, can increase risk for stroke. Women considering HRT should know their personal risk factors for stroke and speak with their physicians about how this treatment could aect them." NEED FOR SPEED Stroke often manifests as weakness throughout the body or on only one side, disorientation, trouble speaking or seeing, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, hiccups, pain, and loss of consciousness. If symptoms appear, every moment is critical. "During the most common type of stroke, millions of brain cells die every minute," said J. Bradley White, M.D., Ph.D., medical director of the stroke program at CHI St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital. "We have a drug that can break up blood clots in the brain's arteries and restore the ow of oxygenated blood, but it must be administered within three hours after symptoms appear for patients to have the best chance of preventing or limiting brain damage." CHI St. Joseph Health Regional Hospital is a Certied Primary Stroke Center since 2007. When a suspected stroke happens, we are ready to care for you. Change Is Healthy You can modify several stroke risk factors. Here's how: Find an aerobic activity you enjoy and work with your primary care physician (PCP) to build a regular exercise regimen around it. Eat a diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and limit consumption of fat, sodium and sugar. Keep your blood sugar levels within their target ranges if you have diabetes. Kick the habit if you smoke. Work with your doctor to monitor your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, and make a plan to reduce them if they're too high. Be Stroke Aware 6 CHI ST. JOSEPH HEALTH /// chistjoseph.org