Stroke

Our brain cells are severely impacted if it is deprived of oxygen, the vital life support elements carried by the blood stream. A stroke normally occurs when areas of the brain dies. The major caused of stroke is due to blockage of blood flow in the brain. Massive stroke can occur due to bleeding in the brain, mostly caused by burst blood vessels, normally known as brain hemorrhage. Not many people are aware though that low cholesterol in the brain could weaken the blood vessels and cause it to burst.

In many ways the underlying cause of strokes are identical to that of heart attacks, in particular the hardening of the arteries that thereafter causes plaque builds up.
When plaque builds up, it narrows the artery and gradually reduces blood flow.
We may not even notice the narrowing of the arteries since our body is adaptive and the symptoms might be detectable till it is too late.

However, plaque in the carotid artery (the main artery supplying the brain -- there's one on each side) is a ticking time bomb. At any time, it might cause the artery to clot off, starving the brain of blood. A portion of the plaque might break off, traveling downstream in the blood flow until it wedges in a smaller artery, blocking it and causing the part of the brain supplied by that artery to die. Physicians call this an embolus.

Another possible symptom of stroke is the sudden loss of vision in one eye. This symptom is caused by a tiny bit of plaque, that embolus which was referred to earlier, lodging in the artery to the eye. The first part of the retina to die is the area farthest from the blockage. Vision fades there, the darkness spreads as more of the retina dies.

Is stroke preventable? The answer is yes. As mentioned earlier most strokes underlying process is identical to those of heart attack. Apart from those beyond age 80s, it is possible to avoid stroke if we live a healthy lifestyle. Topping the list is 1) Do not smoke or stop smoking, 2) control your blood pressure and 3) cut down on alcoholic beverages drinks 4) maintain normal weight and exercise regularly and 5) reduce salt intake and have more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Low salt tomato based vegetable juice are rich in potassium which could help regulate our blood pressure.