Heart Attack And Stroke Similarities #116

A stroke or "brain attack" occurs when a blood clot blocks an artery, or a blood vessel breaks, interrupting blood flow to an area of the brain.  When either of these things happen, brain cells begin to die and brain damage occurs.  The preceding being a quote from the National Stroke Association.

I thought we might look into the similarities of heart attack and stroke and the causes. To me, stroke sometimes carries some terrible consequences to the survivors that are much more difficult to overcome than we heart attack survivors have to deal with.

There are two types of strokes.  Iscehemic, being when arteries are blocked restricting blood flow to the brain.  Hemorrhagic stroke is a blood vessel in the brain breaks leaking blood into the brain.  If one of these two occur, brain cells begin to die and other body function are affected.  These include the movement and use of arms and legs.  The ability to speak, and memory recall can be affected.  Stroke survivors can  suffer long term disabilities from the loss of normal physical abilities and mental functions.

Some warning signs of a stroke are the occurrence of unusually strange or slurred speech, a droop in the face when attempting to smile, disorientation, difficulty holding arms in a raised position.  High cholesterol or high blood pressure are stroke risk factors. Smoking and being overweight are also high risk factors. Just as a heart attack victim having a mild pre-attack event not realizing the symptoms, it can be much the same for a mild stroke victim. Not knowing at the time they are having a stroke.

From posting Heart Attack #84 we know heart attack symptoms and causes, but what are the differences between a heart attack and stroke?  The heart is damaged when flow in an artery providing blood to the heart is blocked resulting in a heart attack.   When a similar blockage restricts blood in an artery to the brain, the affected section of the brain begins to die from a lack of adequate blood.  That results in the loss of function controlled by those brain cells, are known as a stroke.  Both most often but not always, are the result of an unhealthy lifestyle.  Inadequate exercise smoking, poor diet, or eating habits, being overweight, and stress are all high risk factors for heart attack or stroke.

Now on to healthy food ideas. Edamame are steamed or boiled in the pod soybeans.  We  live in a geographical area of the country where soybeans are a major farm crop.   Soybeans are normally left on the vine until fully ripened and dried.  Once dry, the pods begin to break open and the dried beans will begin to fall to the ground.  Farmers will wait until fully dried and then harvest before the beans fall from the pods.  Edamame is a young soybean cut from the plant while still green and fresh.   Left in the pod, the beans are steamed or boiled and then eaten as you would an appetizer or snack.  At least that has been my experience. They are very nutritious, high in protein, and omega-3 fatty acids.  Our granddaughter likes them and introduced them to us when we took her to an oriental style restaurant.   You might be thinking, wow, what is this about?   Edamame, yeah sure, I am going to run out and buy some.  I thought I should pass this along to you as we search for more variety in healthy vegetables.  It is not a regular part of my diet, but we do eat them.   I have gotten into somewhat of a rut when it comes to vegetables and I am trying to have more variety and more often.  Last night we had an old farm style fresh vegetable dinner from what Cindy had gotten at a farmer's market.  Squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, vadalia onions, country peas, cayenne peppers and corn on the cob.  It was all freshly bought that day from the market, prepared and cooked without any unhealthy add to's and it was great.  

Next time short discussion about weight loss and exercise.