Stroke
A stroke is a medical emergency. If you are experiencing stroke symptoms, call emergency medical services, even if they resolve quickly. This page does not discuss acute treatments for stroke, but rather focuses on mitigating the risk of having a stroke and supporting recovery from a stroke.
Lifestyle and dietary habits that keep your blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol levels, and your weight in check, can help to reduce the risk of stroke.
Stroke falls under theCardiovascular HealthandHealthy Aging & Longevitycategories.
Last Updated:August 16, 2022
A stroke (cerebrovascular accident) happens when there is a loss of blood flow to a section of the brain, which, in 87% of cases occurs due to blood clot (ischemic stroke) and in 13% of cases occurs due to bleeding in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke). When blood flow is lost, not enough oxygen and nutrients get to brain cells, which start to die in minutes. Strokes that are not caught and treated quickly can result in death, brain damage, and/or disability. Sometimes, stroke symptoms will resolve within minutes to hours of onset; this is known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and is a strong risk factor for stroke. [1]
Symptoms of stroke can vary from person to person and depend on the type of stroke and the area of the brain affected. One common similarity is that these symptoms start suddenly about 96% of the time.[2] Some common symptoms include:
- Dizziness
- Falling
- Loss of balance
- One-sided weakness or numbness in an arm, leg or the face
- Slurred speech and trouble speaking
- Trouble seeing clearly/double vision
- Headache
- Nausea and/or vomiting
- Abnormal and uncoordinated movements
A health care provider will diagnose a stroke based on signs and symptoms, medical history, and diagnostic scans to image the brain (CT or MRI scans). The provider checks a person’s alertness, coordination/balance, sensation and strength in certain body parts, and any difficulties seeing. Sometimes additional tests of the heart (electrocardiogram and/or an echocardiography) are done to search for blood clots and other problems.[1]
Medical treatments of stroke can be split up into 3 categories.[1]
- Acute treatment is usually performed at the hospital to mitigate a stroke while it is happening; to learn more, see the CDC page for stroke treatments.
- Post-stroke rehabilitation, to reduce disabilities after the stroke has been stopped, can include physical therapy, speech therapy, psychotherapy, and more.
- Preventative treatments, to reduce stroke recurrence, includes various medications, and healthy lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, losing weight, and lowering blood pressure and lipid levels.
Certain dietary supplements have been studied for stroke recovery and prevention. Multivitamins and nutrients like vitamin D, calcium, and vitamin C do not seem to prevent stroke. However, folic acid and B vitamin complex do seem to reduce the risk of stroke, especially in geographic locations that lack folic acid food fortification.[3] Fewer supplements, such as ginkgo and astragalus, have been studied for stroke recovery and evidence is inconclusive at best.[4][5]
A healthy diet plays a role in reducing the risk of a recurrent or first time stroke, while an unhealthy diet can increase the risk of stroke. Being overweight increases the risk of stroke. In general, a healthy diet is low in saturated fats, sodium, and sugar while being high in fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Examples of heart healthy diets include the DASH diet, the Mediterranean diet, and certain vegetarian diets.[6]
Behaviors and interventions that help to control high blood pressure, diabetes, and high cholesterol can also help prevent stroke. For example, regular exercise, stress reduction, and maintaining a healthy weight can help to reduce the risk of stroke.[1]
A stroke is caused by either a blood clot (ischemic stroke) or a bleed (hemorrhagic stroke) inside the brain. Many conditions can increase the risk of stroke over time, especially if they are not properly treated. While the main condition that increases the risk for stroke is uncontrolled high blood pressure, conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and atrial fibrillation (irregular heart beat) also increase risk. Other risk factors for stroke include smoking, past history of stroke or transient ischemic attack, elderly age, African American race, substance use, unhealthy diet, and insufficient exercise.[1]
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Our Supplement Guides give you unbiased research-based recommendations that you can immediately apply to improve your health. Stroke is related to the following Supplement Guide:- ^The content of this page was partially adapted from MedlinePlus of the National Library of Medicine
- ^Yew KS, Cheng EMDiagnosis of acute stroke.Am Fam Physician.(2015-Apr-15)
- ^David J A Jenkins, J David Spence, Edward L Giovannucci, Young-In Kim, Robert G Josse, Reinhold Vieth, Sandhya Sahye-Pudaruth, Melanie Paquette, Darshna Patel, Sonia Blanco Mejia, Effie Viguiliouk, Stephanie K Nishi, Meaghan Kavanagh, Tom Tsirakis, Cyril W C Kendall, Sathish C Pichika, John L SievenpiperSupplemental Vitamins and Minerals for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Treatment: JACC Focus SeminarJ Am Coll Cardiol.(2021 Feb 2)
- ^Zeng X, Liu M, Yang Y, Li Y, Asplund KGinkgo biloba for acute ischaemic strokeCochrane Database Syst Rev.(2005 Oct 19)
- ^Chen CC, Lee HC, Chang JH, Chen SS, Li TC, Tsai CH, Cho DY, Hsieh CLChinese Herb Astragalus membranaceus Enhances Recovery of Hemorrhagic Stroke: Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized StudyEvid Based Complement Alternat Med.(2012)
- ^The content of this page was partially adapted from MedlinePlus of the National Library of Medicine accessed April 21 2022
- ^What We Eat in America, NHANES 2013-2014Table 37. Total Nutrient Intakes: Percent Reporting and Mean Amounts of Selected Vitamins and Minerals from Food and Beverages and Dietary Supplements, by Gender and Age, in the United States, 2013-2014
- ^D Kromhout, A Keys, C Aravanis, R Buzina, F Fidanza, S Giampaoli, A Jansen, A Menotti, S Nedeljkovic, M PekkarinenFood consumption patterns in the 1960s in seven countriesAm J Clin Nutr.(1989 May)
- ^Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvadó J, Covas MI, Corella D, Arós F, Gómez-Gracia E, Ruiz-Gutiérrez V, Fiol M, Lapetra J, Lamuela-Raventos RM, Serra-Majem L, Pintó X, Basora J, Muñoz MA, Sorlí JV, Martínez JA, Fitó M, Gea A, Hernán MA, Martínez-González MA, PREDIMED Study InvestigatorsPrimary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or NutsN Engl J Med.(2018 Jun 21)
- ^Courtney Davis, Janet Bryan, Jonathan Hodgson, Karen MurphyDefinition of the Mediterranean Diet; a Literature ReviewNutrients.(2015 Nov 5)
- General Oxidation - Monika Lagowska-Lenard, Zbigniew Stelmasiak, Halina Bartosik-PsujekInfluence of vitamin C on markers of oxidative stress in the earliest period of ischemic strokePharmacol Rep.(Jul-Aug 2010)
- Cardiovascular Disease Mortality - Buring JEAspirin prevents stroke but not MI in women; vitamin E has no effect on CV disease or cancerCleve Clin J Med.(2006 Sep)
- Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) - Singh I, Turner AH, Sinclair AJ, Li D, Hawley JAEffects of gamma-tocopherol supplementation on thrombotic risk factorsAsia Pac J Clin Nutr.(2007)
- Stroke Recovery - Koval'chuk VV, Skoromets AA, Koval'chuk IV, Stoianova EG, Vysotskaia ML, Melikhova EV, Il'iaĭnen EV[Efficacy of phenotropil in the rehabilitation of stroke patients]Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova.(2010)
- Stroke Recovery - Huijts M, van Oostenbrugge RJ, Rouhl RP, Menheere P, Duits AEffects of vitamin B12 supplementation on cognition, depression, and fatigue in patients with lacunar strokeInt Psychogeriatr.(2013 Mar)
- Stroke Recovery - Chen CC, Lee HC, Chang JH, Chen SS, Li TC, Tsai CH, Cho DY, Hsieh CLChinese Herb Astragalus membranaceus Enhances Recovery of Hemorrhagic Stroke: Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized StudyEvid Based Complement Alternat Med.(2012)
- Stroke Recovery - Robinson RG, Jorge RE, Clarence-Smith K, Starkstein SDouble-blind treatment of apathy in patients with poststroke depression using nefiracetamJ Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci.(2009 Spring)
- Stroke Recovery - Güngör L, Terzi M, Onar MKDoes long term use of piracetam improve speech disturbances due to ischemic cerebrovascular diseasesBrain Lang.(2011 Apr)
- Stroke Recovery - Zeng X, Liu M, Yang Y, Li Y, Asplund KGinkgo biloba for acute ischaemic strokeCochrane Database Syst Rev.(2005 Oct 19)
- Stroke Recovery - Aquilani R, Baiardi P, Scocchi M, Iadarola P, Verri M, Sessarego P, Boschi F, Pasini E, Pastoris O, Viglio SNormalization of zinc intake enhances neurological retrieval of patients suffering from ischemic strokesNutr Neurosci.(2009 Oct)
- LDL Oxidation - Poppitt SD, Howe CA, Lithander FE, Silvers KM, Lin RB, Croft J, Ratnasabapathy Y, Gibson RA, Anderson CSEffects of moderate-dose omega-3 fish oil on cardiovascular risk factors and mood after ischemic stroke: a randomized, controlled trialStroke.(2009 Nov)
- Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) - Mostafa Asadollahi, Parisa Nikdokht, Boshra Hatef, Seyed Shahabeddin Sadr, Hedayat Sahraei, Farhad Assarzadegan, Gila Pirzad JahromiProtective properties of the aqueous extract of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) in ischemic stroke, randomized clinical trialJ Ethnopharmacol.(2019 Jun 28)