Stroke and heart disease often go hand in hand. In fact, patients with coronary heart disease, angina (chest pain), and those who have had a heart attack because of atherosclerosis (a condition in which blood vessels narrow and harden) are more than twice as likely to have a stroke compared to people without coronary heart disease. If you have heart failure, a condition in which your heart is unable to adequately pump blood to the rest of the body, that also increases your risk of having a stroke.
What is a stroke?
A stroke is essentially a brain attack in which blood flow to a region of the brain is blocked. When this happens, the brain is unable to get the oxygen that it needs, leading to permanent brain damage. There are two main types of stroke:
- Ischemic stroke, which is kind of like a heart attack but occurs in the blood vessels that supply oxygen to the brain instead of the heart. It makes up approximately 80 percent of all strokes, and occurs when the brain's blood vessels have clots that block the blood flow from any region of the body that is connected to the brain. An ischemic stroke can also occur when, similar to a heart attack, too many fatty deposits form plaques in the blood vessels of the brain.
- Hemorrhagic stroke, which develops when one of the blood vessels in the brain ruptures, causing a high amount of blood to leave the blood vessels and rush into the brain tissue. This causes significant damage to the brain cells of that region. The most common reason why this occurs is because of high blood pressure and brain aneurysms (in which the blood vessel walls are weak or thin).
How do I know I am having a stroke?
The best way to minimize the damage a stroke causes is to recognize the symptoms and go straight to the emergency department:
- Feeling weak or numb in either the face, arm or leg in one side of your body.
- Losing vision in one or both eyes.
- Experiencing a dimming of your vision – kind of like a curtain falling over one or both of your eyes.
- Losing speech or difficulty talking.
- Difficulty understanding what other people are saying.
- Having a very strong, severe and sudden headache without any known causes.
- Experiencing a loss of balance or walking unstably.
Why is there a connection between heart disease and stroke?
There is a significant link between stroke and heart disease, which is evident just by the fact that they both have similar causes – a blockage in the supply of oxygen to a part of either the brain or the heart. Thus, there are many different types of heart diseases that increase the risk of a stroke. Conversely, a history of stroke also increases your risk of having coronary heart disease.
Shared risk factors
One reason why stroke and cardiovascular disease link are linked is because they have shared risk factors, some of which can be treated or adjusted through lifestyle modifications:
- Having high low density lipoprotein (LDL) levels, which is the “bad” cholesterol
- Having low high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, which is the “good” cholesterol
- Having hypertension (high blood pressure)
- Being a smoker
- Having diabetes
- Living a sedentary, physically inactive, lifestyle
- Being overweight or obese
Can you prevent a stroke?
What are the risk factors that can be controlled?
The risk factors that can be controlled include:
- Having high blood pressure
- Having atrial fibrillation
- Having uncontrolled or untreated diabetes
- Having high cholesterol
- Being a smoker
- Drinking alcohol excessively
- Being overweight or obese
- Having existing coronary artery disease
What are the uncontrollable risk factor for a stroke?
- How old you are, as people aged 65 and over have a higher risk of stroke.
- What gender you are, as males are more likely to have a stroke, though strokes in women are more deadly.
- What race you are, as African Americans are at a higher risk of having a stroke.
- Having a family history of a stroke.
How do I know I am at a higher risk of a stroke?
You can talk to your doctor and see if they can evaluate your risk of a stroke. If you are at a higher risk (i.e. if it runs in your family), then your doctor can help you control the adjustable risk factors.
In some cases, people will experience a type of warning sign before a stroke actually takes place. These strokes are called transient ischemic attacks or mini-strokes, as they are short episodes of stroke symptoms. These may signal an impending major stroke. Anyone that experienced a transient ischemic attack should go to the emergency room.
Sources & Links
- Kocan, M. J. (1998). The brain-heart connection: cardiac effects of acute ischemic stroke. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 13(1), 57-68.
- Shimamoto, T., Komachi, Y., Inada, H., Doi, M., Iso, H., Sato, S., ... & Nakanishi, N. (1989). Trends for coronary heart disease and stroke and their risk factors in Japan. Circulation, 79(3), 503-515.
- Samuels, M. A. (2007). The brain–heart connection. Circulation, 116(1), 77-84.
- Photo courtesy of SteadyHealth