high blood pressure

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Be Aware of Early Warning Signs of a Stroke

stroke2

Have you or a loved one ever had a stroke? It can be a frightening thing to experience. Strokes are the leading cause of death and the risk of permanent disability for many in the United States. When it comes to your health and well-being, it is important to be aware of signs of a potential danger. There are ways to prevent a negative outcome and even death. Being aware of the factors that lead to a stroke as well as preventative measures is very important to keep in mind.

The Side Effects & Risks

Not only are strokes the leading cause of death for thousands of patients each year, they can also lead to permanent brain damage. The major cause of strokes is clogging of an artery in the brain, low blood pressure, and blood clots. The risk factors include cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, alcohol abuse, and heart disease. Unhealthy habits and even stress can affect the immune system leaving room for sickness and disease.

It is important to be aware of the signs of a stroke so that you can be prepared to take immediate action if needed. As a patient, you have the right to be informed and have a level of control over your health to prevent a stroke that can have potential permanent adverse effects on your health and future, especially in the case of a delayed medical diagnoses. Seeking legal advice along with medical assistance can prove to be beneficial and even preventative.

Physical Signs of a Stroke

The following are early warning signs of a stroke:

Numbness of the face or arm. The loss of voluntary movement or sensations is a sure sign of a stroke. Usually these are followed by heart palpitations. It is important to be aware of these signs in order to take immediate action.

Confusion. If a person finds themselves unable to process thoughts or speak coherently this could be a sign of a serious problem. It can be accompanied by a slurring of words and even foaming at the mouth. Make sure to ask them questions to see if they respond back to you. If they are unable to respond clearly or coherently it is a clear sign that the person is in need of immediate help.

Blurred vision. An inability to see clearly or even losing focus in one eye can be a sign of an issue. If the person complains of vision impairment, it can be a sure sign that they are in danger of experiencing a potentially life-altering stroke.

Trouble with walking or balance. If a person seems off balance or suddenly loses their step, it could be a signs of an impending stroke. If you notice irregularity in your movement it is important to seek the advice of a physician. Don’t wait to seek a medical checkup.

Be well-informed about your medical condition and ask your physician key questions about your health. One can never go wrong with preventative measures that add to their quality of life and prevent potential life-threatening disease. Often heart conditions will lead patients to make life-changing decisions like changing their eating habits, exercising or walking regularly, and cutting healthy habits from their lives.

It is important to be an active participant in your health and well-being. Take control of your health! Be well informed.




Leave a comment Posted on A to Z of Medical Conditions, Cardiovascular disease

Abdominal aortic aneurysm – what are the signs, symptoms, causes and treatments of an Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysm – what are the signs, symptoms, causes and treatments of an Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Welcome to the first in our series of posts in conjunction with NHS Choices were we look at the signs, symptoms, causes and treatments of a particular medical condition.  Today we will focus on abdominal aortic aneurysms.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a swelling (aneurysm) of the aorta – the main blood vessel that leads away from the heart, down through the abdomen to the rest of the body.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysm

The abdominal aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body and is usually around 2cm wide – roughly the width of a garden hose. However, it can swell to over 5.5cm – what doctors class as a large AAA.Large aneurysms are rare, but can be very serious. If a large aneurysm bursts, it causes huge internal bleeding and is usually fatal.

The bulging occurs when the wall of the aorta weakens. Although what causes this weakness is unclear, smoking and high blood pressure are thought to increase the risk of an aneurysm.

AAAs are most common in men aged over 65. A rupture accounts for more than 1 in 50 of all deaths in this group and a total of 6,000 deaths in England and Wales each year.


This is why many men are invited for a screening test when they turn 65. The test involves a simple ultrasound scan, which takes around 10-15 minutes.

Symptoms of an AAA

In most cases, an AAA causes no noticeable symptoms. However, if it becomes large, some people may develop a pain or a pulsating feeling in their abdomen (tummy) or persistent back pain.

The following video gives an excellent overview of the condition – in particular who AAA is screened and treated.

An AAA doesn’t usually pose a serious threat to health, but there’s a risk that a larger aneurysm could burst (rupture).

A ruptured aneurysm can cause massive internal bleeding, which is usually fatal. Around 8 out of 10 people with a rupture either die before they reach hospital or don’t survive surgery.

The most common symptom of a ruptured aortic aneurysm is sudden and severe pain in the abdomen.

If you suspect that you or someone else has had a ruptured aneurysm, call 999 immediately and ask for an ambulance.

Read more about the symptoms of an AAA.

Causes of an AAA

It’s not known exactly what causes the aortic wall to weaken, although increasing age and being male are known to be the biggest risk factors.

There are other risk factors you can do something about, including smoking and having high blood pressure and cholesterol level.

Having a family history of aortic aneurysms also means that you have an increased risk of developing one yourself.

Read more about the causes of an AAA.

Diagnosing an AAA

Because AAAs usually cause no symptoms, they tend to be diagnosed either as a result of screening or during a routine examination – for example, if a GP notices a pulsating sensation in your abdomen.

The screening test is an ultrasound scan, which allows the size of your abdominal aorta to be measured on a monitor. This is also how an aneurysm will be diagnosed if your doctor suspects you have one.

Read more about diagnosing an AAA.

Treating an AAA

If a large AAA is detected before it ruptures, most people will be advised to have treatment, to prevent it rupturing.

This is usually done with surgery to replace the weakened section of the blood vessel with a piece of synthetic tubing.

If surgery is not advisable – or if you decide not to have it – there are a number of non-surgical treatments that can reduce the risk of an aneurysm rupturing.

They include medications to lower your cholesterol and blood pressure, and quitting smoking.

You will also have the size of your aneurysm checked regularly with ultrasound scanning.

Read more about treating AAAs.

Prevention

The best way to prevent getting an aneurysm – or reduce the risk of an aneurysm growing bigger and possibly rupturing – is to avoid anything that could damage your blood vessels, such as:

  • smoking
  • eating a high-fat diet
  • not exercising regularly
  • being overweight or obese

Read more about preventing aneurysms.

[Original article on NHS Choices website]

Abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abdominal aortic aneurysm

 

Leave a comment Posted on Cardiovascular disease, Patient Talk

7 Things You Should Know about Brain Health

You’re good at taking care of your body, you eat healthy foods, and you exercise, and try to establish a healthy lifestyle. However, are you good at taking care of your brain? This article brings you all the important things you should keep in mind for optimal brain health.

 

  1. Physical activity is essential for brain health

 

Brain health

Brain health

Physical activity is important for overall health. It helps you lose weight or maintain the healthy weight you already have, and it’s good for your heart as well. But benefits of physical activity go beyond that, it’s of crucial importance for the optimal brain health. In fact, regular aerobic exercise boosts your daily intellectual performance and significantly lowers risk for dementia. Even just walking for 30 minutes can do the trick.

  1. Losing weight means keeping healthy memory

 What you eat directly impacts your brain as well. After all, your brain requires vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients to function properly. A healthy diet is associated with lower risk for dementia. Furthermore, healthy weight with a low ratio of body fat lowers your risk for memory disorders. And the best thing is you don’t need to buy some supplements or other products to improve your memory. You can do so by consumption of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods such as foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. Additionally, reduce consumption of alcohol and caffeine.


 

  1. Challenge your brain to improve focus

 We all experience loss of concentration and focus from time to time, particularly when we study for an important exam or try to finish an important work project. The truth is, healthy brain and focus go hand in hand. To be able to concentrate and focus on everything you do, you have to make sure your brain is healthy and strong to process information. One way to do so is through mental stimulation. To function properly, your brain needs to be challenged. You can train your brain and improve your focus in number of ways, such as:

  • Crosswords
  • Sudoku
  • Puzzles
  • Start with creative part of work or assignment or simply, do something creative e.g. draw, paint, create
  • Turn off all distractions
  • Learn a new language
  • Explore, investigate
  • Take up a new hobby
  • Go to a museum
  • Meet new people.

 

  1. High blood pressure is equally harmful to your brain as well

 High blood pressure is a quite common condition in which the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is abnormal. Hypertension affects 74 million Americans, which is 1 in 3 adults. It is also responsible for every six deaths in American adults according to the Harvard Medical School. It is largely believed that high blood pressure has damaging consequences on your heart only.

Because hypertension involves heart and blood vessels, it is classified as a cardiovascular disease, but arteries are essential for the health of all our organs, which means that hypertension can be defined as multisystem disease.  It can impact your brain, kidneys, eyes, and especially the brain. One of the most severe consequences of hypertension is a stroke. Noticing symptoms of high blood pressure and consulting your doctor can save your life.

 

Symptoms of high blood pressure include:

  • Headache
  • Shortness of breath
  • Nosebleed in some cases.

In some cases, individual doesn’t even experience some symptoms of hypertension that is of extreme importance to control your blood pressure regularly. Furthermore, healthy lifestyle is the best way of preventing hypertension and possibly stroke.

 

  1. Know how to recognize symptoms of stroke

 

Learning to recognize symptoms of stroke in yourself or other people is highly important. Getting early treatment can minimize the damage and save your life. Symptoms include:

  • Sudden weakness
  • Sudden problems speaking or understanding
  • Sudden vision problems
  • Sudden dizziness
  • Sudden severe headache.

 

  1. Persistent dizziness shouldn’t be ignored 

Although dizziness doesn’t always mean something is wrong, in some cases it could be a symptom of the underlying problem. If you experience persistent dizziness make sure you see your doctor who will make a diagnosis and inform you whether the problem is your brain or some other organ in your body.

 

  1. Reducing stress and positive thinking are brain healthy

 Positive thinking isn’t just an excuse for motivational speakers to earn more money. Thinking positively can have a beneficial impact on your brain. If you believe you have a good memory or that you can improve it, then you will. Scientists explain this phenomenon with the fact that positive thinking reduces stress.

Chronic stress destroys healthy brain cells and disrupts your memory among many other things. Finding your unique way of keeping stress at bay is of extreme importance for your brain health.

 

 

Video:

Conclusion

 

To stay functional and healthy, our brain requires healthy lifestyle. Eating healthy foods and regular physical activity can protect the body and the brain from various diseases. Remember to challenge your brain to keep it sharp.

 

References

  1. https://www.consumerhealthdigest.com/brain-enhancement-supplements/profiderall.html

 

Author Bio

 

Kathy Mitchell was born and raised in the USA. She has done MA in English literature. She loves to write articles on health and beauty. Also she is contributing to consumer health digest since 2011.Her articles are both professional and creative. She loves to read health product reviews online. You can contact her on Facebook and Twitter.

 

 

 

2 Comments Posted on Medical Education

¼ Patients Fear Side-Effects So Much They Stop Taking Their Medicine

Confusing ‘Patient Information Leaflets’, poor GP-Patient relationships and a lack of understanding into how medicines work leads to many stopping their treatment.

Medical Compliance

Medical Compliance

• 73% of British adults have been prescribed medication in the last year, and almost half in the last month alone.
• This week is National Medication Adherence Week (16th- 23rd October) which aims to highlight the serious national impact that failing to properly take medication has.

• The full scale of the issue was revealed in 2013 by a landmark investigation – the first large-scale study into the issue in the UK – called the Aston Medication Adherence Study. The results showed that around a quarter to a third of the patients were non-adherent to their medication.
• Reasons for failing to take medication range from a fear of side-effects to the nearly two thirds who simply forget their prescription programme. 1 in 5 stopped taking their medication as they did not feel ill and thought they did not need it – failing to understand how and why medicine works.

PatientTalk.Org interviewed Paul O’Hanlon,a  Medical Adherence Expert, to find out more.

PatientTalk.Org – So Paul first question, what is compliance and what is the issue?

O’Hanlon – Compliance is about a patient who has been prescribed a course of medicine over a few days, over a many months or maybe for the rest of their lives, it’s about them taking that medicine at the right time of day every day of the week they are meant to take.

PatientTalk.Org – Ok and what are the costs to the NHS and to the health of the nation?

O’Hanlon – Well what we have found when we started to look at compliance or we use the term medicine adherence we find that a significant proportion so up to 50% of patients are actually not taking their medicines correctly and this has two big consequences. First is that the actual consequence of the waste of those medicines which we estimate at about 300 million pounds a year just in wasted medicine but there is an even bigger issue and this is the human impact, the fact that by these patients not taking their medicines correctly it impacts their health, impacts on their long term conditions and that has a  further cost to the NHS to additional G.P visits, additional hospital visits, hospital interventions , off almost 500 million a year in people’s health.

PatientTalk.Org – Ok and which conditions are most impacted?

O’Hanlon – The most important ones that we are focusing on are the long term conditions such as blood pressure, high cholesterol , diabetes of which as the population is ageing we are living with more and more of these conditions so it’s a growing problem.

PatientTalk.Org – Ok and has it any effect on the anti-biotic resistance?

O’Hanlon – Well not taking a full course of anti-biotics as prescribed has a part to play in the increase of anti-biotic resistance, that’s not really key to the area that we are focusing on, were focusing more on patients with long term conditions who are on medicines for many many months if not years or till the end of their life’s, that’s the adherence we are really focusing on.

PatientTalk.Org – Ok and what are the chances of adverse events in reality for the average patient?

O’Hanlon – Oh quite significant, I mean the occasional missed dose is not going to do much harm but when a person does have a chronic illness, let’s say diabetes where the control of the sugar and blood is very important, if they are not controlling that blood sugar there can be many long term complications one of which can be a significant reduction in blood circulation in the limbs and at the moment we are seeing up a hundred amputations a week in the NHS as a result of poor medication adherence in diabetes so the consequences can be huge.

PatientTalk.Org – Ok and how better compliance be achieved?

O’Hanlon – Well the starting point is if a patient has any doubts about what they are doing with their medicines and feels they are not managing them as well as they could  then go talk to the pharmacist , the pharmacist has a number of solutions it could be something as simple as providing a medication adherence pack this could , this is pack that sorts the patients medication out for them for the week and just makes sure that its simpler, there are many new technologies emerging or it just be the fact that the patients’ needs to understand what their medicines are for so its starting point to say go and talk to your pharmacist they are experts on medicines and they can really help.

PatientTalk.Org – Ok and can G.P’s do anything to help?

O’Hanlon – Certainly, G.P’s, nurses, pharmacists we all have a part to play and I suppose this is one of the big parts of this campaign, not only are we wanting to raise awareness of medication nonadherence in patients, this is also a shout out to the health professionals, to government, to the NHS, we really need to start putting our heads together and finding some real fixes to this problems so it’s not just G.P’s it’s the whole healthcare community.

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European Heart Failure Awareness Day – How one hospital is promoting awareness!


European Heart Failure Awareness Day

European Heart Failure Awareness Day

As you many have heard on the radio this morning today is European Heart Failure Awareness Day.

So the Heart Failure team at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester is showing its support for the event with an stall in the reception area of the hospital and nursing staff on hand to talk to people about heart failure and heart health in general.

Please feel free to share the picture associated with this blog. When enlarged (you can do so by clicking on it) the poster turns into an informational poster which is easy to share online.

The Europe-wide initiative is designed to raise awareness of heart failure, including spotting possible symptoms, the importance of an early and accurate diagnosis and the need for optimal treatment.


Heart failure affects about 900,000 people in the UK. The condition can affect people of all ages, but it is more common in older people. In fact, more than 50% of all people with heart failure are over the age of 75. It is also associated with a number of other serious health problems, including coronary heart disease, heart attack and high blood pressure (hypertension).

Louise Clayton who is Senior Heart Failure Specialist Nurse for Leicester’s Hospitals told us : “We are supporting this awareness day as heart failure is becoming more common. There are lots of things we can do to improve heart failure but it is important to diagnose it early. If you or someone you know has unexplained shortness of breath or ankle swelling please encourage them to speak to their GP or consultant.”

To find out more about the European Heart Failure Awareness Day, please visit http://www.bsh.org.uk/resources/heart-failure-awareness/