Preventing a Stroke

If you've just had a mini-stroke, you have a 40% risk of having a big stroke eventually, and about a 10% chance of having that "big one" in the next three months.
You can't bring that risk down to 0 immediately, but you can dial it back considerably. Your doctor will probably recommend a lot of tests. It's hard to see excactly what's going on in every blood vessel in your body, so the doctor will order up blood tests. Blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides, C-reactive protein (and A1C, if you are diabetic). The doctor might have something to say about your weight and your physical fitness level, too. Your doctor will set some goals about where all of these values should be, and when they should get there. And maybe even give you some tips on diet and exercise.
But every body is different. Your doctor may or may not have recommended a particular diet or excercise. You can find out about exercise and diet to meet your health goals and reduce the risk of stroke....

If you've read about strokes, you'll know that they can be caused by

• blood vessels getting narrow from growing plaque deposits, and blocking blood flow
• broken bits of blood clots or unstable plaques travelling to a narrow place in a blood vessel (maybe one narrowed by plaque) and blocking blood flow
• damaged blood vessels breaking, causing reduced blood flow downstream, and pooling of blood in the brain at the break

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke says the most important treatable risk factors for stroke are

• Lower your High Blood Pressure
  • Increase potassium in your diet, and reduce salt
  • Get enough vitamin D (10 minutes in the sun)
  • Take medication to lower your blood pressure; avoid medications (like decongestants) that raise it
  • Get more exercise
  • Maintain proper weight
• Quit Cigarette Smoking. It raises blood pressure, contributes to heart disease, thickens blood.
• Treat Heart Disease
  • lower your blood pressure (see above)
  • if your doctor says so, take a blood thinner (like aspirin) to prevent clots
  • improve your diet to slow plaque development
  • get checked for coronary artery disease, valve defects, irregular heart beat, or enlargement of the heart, which can all lead to blood clots
• Warning signs or history of TIA or stroke
  • Learn the warning signs of a stroke and be prepared to call 911 early
  • A second stroke could be twice as bad, if it affects a part of the brain doing double duty for the section damaged in an earlier stroke.
• Blood sugar, insulin, and diabetes
  • Reduce blood sugar and insulin to control blood pressure
  • Reduce blood sugar and insulin to protect your blood vessels
  • Reduce blood sugar and insulin to control heart disease
  • reduce blood sugar to reduce the amount of brain damage during a stroke
• Balance your Cholesterol
  • Reduce your LDL to reduce plaque buildup, atherosclerosis, blood vessel narrowing
• Increase your Physical Activity
  • Inactivity is associated with hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes
  • Aim for a good waist circumference to hip circumference ratio -- a high waist-to-hips ratio raises the ischemic stroke risk by 300%

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References

• Preventing Stroke: Treatable Risk Factors, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
• Vitamin D Levels Linked with Health of Blood Vessels, and Vitamin D status is associated with arterial stiffness and vascular dysfunction in healthy humans.

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Omega-3 and genetic engineering

Those of us who eat a lot of grains and/or grain-fed livestock are always on the lookout for ways to get more omega-3 fatty acids. That's because grains are skewed toward the omega-6 fatty acids, which are inflammatory, and can contribute to heart disease.

But, wouldn't you know it, Monsanto has been working on the problem. They have developed a soybean that produces a lot of SDA, a compound that like ALA, humans can convert to omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, but which is much more shelf-stable than EPA or DHA. And the soy oil will taste better than fish oil. Their plan is to use it to create a high-omega-3 soybean oil, but perhaps it will find other uses as well. They've concluded their soy oil is safe for rats.

Will they try for a high-omega-3 corn next, for livestock feed to produce high-omega-3 meats?
Is this a good thing or not?

• Monsanto and The Solae Company to Collaborate on Soy-based Omega-3 Portfolio


• Safety assessment of SDA soybean oil: Results of a 28-day gavage study and a 90-day/one generation reproduction feeding study in rats. Fleeman et al. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2008 Aug 31

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Reducing the risk from C-Reactive Protein

Today, statin drugs are in the news. The Jupiter study results, just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, says that patients with high C-reactive protein scores given Crestor "had a 45 percent reduction in serious heart problems and 20 percent reduction in death from all causes compared to those who received a placebo"[1]. The study participants were specially selected. They were all 50 or older, and chosen because they had high C-reactive protein scores, low to normal levels of LDL cholesterol, and did not have diabetes.[2] Many of them were overweight, had high LDL or triglycerides, or had metabolic syndrome.[3]

Crestor reduced the C-reactive protein of the Jupiter subjects by 37%, and their LDL by 50%. The earlier MERCURY trials of Crestor on high-risk patients with LDL cholesterol over 130 mg/dL, showed that Crestor could lower LDL cholesterol to below 70 in higher-risk patients,[4] but did not measure C-reactive protein.

So this study does not suggest that everyone can benefit from statins. It suggests that that the older, non-diabetic but perhaps pre-diabetic patients with high C-reactive protein levels may benefit from statins, whether or not they have high LDL cholesterol.

What is C-reactive protein?
C-reactive protein is related to inflammation in the body. It is very high following an injury (or surgery), and during a bacterial infection. C-reactive protein has been linked to heart disease, though it isn't clear just why. It doesn't seem to cause heart disease,[5] but it seems to be a good way to keep tabs on inflammation.

Inflammation, of course, is bad for the heart. Some foods cause inflammation. Body fat can cause inflammation. So anything that reduces inflammation seems like a good idea. Statin drugs appear to reduce inflammation while lowering LDL cholesterol. Of course, LDL cholesterol is not the best predictor of cardiovascular risk. The American College of Cardiology and the American Diabetic Association both recommend apoB and LDL particle concentration, or non-HDL cholesterol.[6]

C-reactive protein has also been associated with high triglycerides, coffee consumption, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, high protein diets, high fat diets[7], high glycemic index diets, inadequate sleep, too little exercise, depression, and age.

How to reduce C-reactive protein
Exercise, losing weight, reducing triglycerides, controlling blood pressure, getting enough sleep, eating a Mediterranean diet, eating antioxidant foods with meals, and cutting back on "bad" carbs like bread and pasta have all been recommended for reducing inflammation and C-reactive protein.

This is still a new area for medicine. If you get standard blood work done, you won't see C-reactive protin on the lab report. There seems to be evidence that reducing chronic inflammation through diet and exercise is a good idea. So where does that leave me? I'm going to rethink pancakes and muffins, change what I pack in our lunches, lean more towards bulgur and less toward rice, substitute sweet potatoes for potatoes whenever possible, suggest red wine instead of beer, and keep drinking unsweetened cocoa.

I've had a look at the South Beach diet and Neal Barnard's diet, and I'm wondering: what about Thanksgiving? And Christmas?

1. RPT-Crestor study seen changing preventive treatment. Bill Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson. Reuters
2. JUPITER - Crestor 20mg Versus Placebo in Prevention of Cardiovascular (CV) Events. Clinical Trial Registration.
3. Rosuvastatin to Prevent Vascular Events in Men and Women with Elevated C-Reactive Protein. Paul M Ridker, M.D. et al. WWW.NEJM.ORG. November 9, 2008 (10.1056/NEJMoa0807646)
4. Statin therapy alters the relationship between apolipoprotein B and low-density lipoprotein .... Ballantyne CM et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2008 Aug 19;52(8):626-32.
5. Genetically Elevated C-Reactive Protein and Ischemic Vascular Disease. Nordestgaard et al. New England Journal of Medicine. Volume 359:1897-1908 October 30, 2008.
6. CONSENSUS CONFERENCE REPORT: Lipoprotein Management in Patients With Cardiometabolic Risk. Witztum et al. Am Coll Cardiol, 2008; 51:1512-1524, doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2008.02.034 (Published online 27 March 2008).
7. Low Carbohydrate, High Fat Diet Increases C-Reactive Protein during Weight Loss. Turpyn et al. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 26, No. 2, 163-169 (2007).

internal link repaired on 27 Feb 2009

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