Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and Strokes

Neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor had a stroke. It took her eight years to recover after surgery to remove the blood clot. She describes the brain and her thoughts during her stroke. Very fascinating. Dr. Jill's Stroke She will also be on Oprah, but I found that I hadn't taped it.

As a caregiver, I need to guard my health. My blood pressure and cholesterol scores are good--would be better if I could walk/jog those nine miles a week. I have lost some weight recently, and need to keep it up. Seven years ago I had a TIA, a mini stroke. See information Here. Tests could not find any area of my brain where this happened, but since that time I have taken Aggrenox to prevent a further TIA or an actual stroke. Today in my e-mail from the Johns Hopkins Health Alert:
A number of factors contribute to your risk of a stroke. Some of them, for example, age and family history, obviously can't be modified. But fortunately, many other major stroke risk factors can be significantly reduced through lifestyle measures, medications, surgery, or a combination of all three. Recently, an article published in the journal Circulation (volume 119, page 1093) reported that women who stick closely to a Mediterranean-style diet lowered their risk of stroke.Women who received high aMed scores ate more vegetables (excluding potatoes), fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes, fish, and monounsaturated fats like olive oil; those who ate less of these foods and more saturated fat, red and processed meat, refined grains, and sweets received lower scores. During the study, a total of 1,763 strokes occurred. Women with the highest aMed scores were 13% less likely to have a stroke and 39% less likely to die of cardiovascular disease than those with the lowest scores. Take-away: Numerous studies confirm that following a Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of coronary heart disease. Now we have some evidence that this healthy eating pattern may reduce stroke risk, too.
So the Mediterranean diet it is! Also helps memory as I reported earlier on July 30, 2010.

My husband complained about how greasy his bagel and cream cheese were this morning. It was the coconut oil. Got to be more clever in modifying our diets.

2 comments:

  1. Carol,
    After David was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, my big fear has been "what if something happens to me.....who will take care of David?" Those thoughts have made me take better care of myself, except for the exercise. I wish someone would make me exercise....tee/hee...

    You're sure doing the right thing in eating a Mediterranean diet as much as possible, since you've had a TIA.

    Thanks for posting a lot of good information..
    Hugs,

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  2. My mother and her two sisters were in their 70's and still on no medications. I think one main reason is because they don't eat red meat and eat lots of vegetable and fruit.

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