As physiotherapists we see a large number of patients recovering from the effects of a stroke and so when I read some evidence recently about the importance of diet and exercise in preventing a stroke I thought it would be helpful to share it. A stroke occurs when blood supply to one area of the brain has been cut off, this occurs for two reasons: firstly a blood clot blocks an artery supplying blood to the brain and secondly a blood vessel bursts and the blood pooling in the brain then compresses other blood vessels and results in a loss of blood supply. The first is called an ischaemic stroke and the second a hemmorhagic stroke. Both are extremely serious and often have devastating effects of mobility, strength, cognition and quality of life, so looking at how to prevent strokes is vital.

So, recently I was reading an article from our professional magazine (Frontline) on this very subject (full article here https://www.csp.org.uk/frontline/article/stop-strokes-diet-and-activity-keep-stroke-bay ). It raised some really interesting points about strokes. Firstly it is estimated that 9/10 strokes are preventable!! I found this a truly staggering figure and even if possibly this is a bit high - let's say that 7/10 strokes are preventable then this is still incredible. Lifestyle factors such as diet, high blood pressure, smoking being overweight, inactivity and excessive drinking were all key risk factors. Personally having seen the terrible effects that a stroke can have first hand as a physiotherapist I find it both heartening and depressing taht most strokes are actually preventable by living a healthy life. I have seen many patients who were previously completely independent have this taken away completely by the effects of a stroke and left unable to care or feed themselves. I have no doubts that given a chance to rewind the clock back to their younger selves they would make significantly different lifestyle choices in order to prevent what had happened to them. I have no idea how we as a country are going to change these factors and make strokes a thing of the past but at least there is the possibility that by simply living a reasonably healthy lifestyle - just the basics of eating sensibly, not drinking excessively, keeping your weight under control, not smoking and doing some exercise (you don't need to be an olympic athlete) then the majority of strokes coud be prevented.

I hope that you have found this blog interesting. If you or anyone you know has had a stroke and would like help from physiotherapy then please get in touch. For anyone reading the blog for the first time: we are a home visit physiotherapy service based in Lichfield and serving Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth, Rugeley, Cannock and Walsall.