How to prevent cerebral infarction after the age of 50? Doctors give sincere advice

I went to the neurology department for a consultation. Their department is almost full of patients. Recently, more and more people have suffered from cerebral infarction, which may be related to the large temperature changes in autumn.

Among all cerebral infarction patients, the majority are over 50 years old. According to the latest new stroke report in my country, after the age of 50, the incidence rate of stroke is 345.1/100,000 person-years, and the average age of onset is 66 years old.

The mortality rate from cerebrovascular diseases accounts for 22% of the mortality rate among Chinese residents, and has always ranked first, with the mortality rate in rural areas being higher than that in urban areas.

How can we prevent cerebral infarction, especially after the age of 50, the incidence of cerebral infarction increases significantly, what should these people pay attention to? If we want to prevent cerebral infarction, we must first understand the causes of cerebral infarction.

1. Causes of cerebral infarction

1. Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is what common people call vascular garbage, or vascular plaque. When the vascular plaque gradually worsens, insufficient blood supply to the brain may occur. When unstable plaques rupture, blood clots will form, which will block cerebral blood vessels and cause cerebral infarction.

2. Heart disease thrombosis

The most common heart disease thrombosis is atrial fibrillation, arrhythmia. When atrial fibrillation occurs, the heart is prone to thrombosis. If the thrombosis in the heart breaks off, it will flow with the blood flow to the cerebral blood vessels, blocking the cerebral blood vessels and causing cerebral infarction. In addition to atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, valvular disease, endocarditis, myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, cardiac myxoma and other heart diseases can also form thrombosis, and thrombosis may also cause cerebral infarction.

3. Arteriolar occlusion

Changes in cerebral arterioles, arteriosclerosis, and microvascular diseases caused by long-term hypertension and diabetes may all lead to cerebral infarction.

According to the latest stroke statistics, among stroke survivors, 63.0% to 84.2% have high blood pressure, and 31.7% to 47.6% are smokers. In addition to high blood pressure and smoking, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, obesity, atrial fibrillation, unhealthy diet, staying up late, etc. are also causes of stroke.

2. How to prevent cerebral infarction

Now that we understand the causes of cerebral infarction, we should prevent it by eliminating the causes. Cerebral infarction is more common after the age of 50, so we should pay more attention to prevention.

1. First, you need to make sure whether you have three highs

Many people over 50 have never measured their blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids. Some people confidently say that they don’t feel uncomfortable, so why do they need to check? In fact, when the three highs come, they don’t say hello, and often there is no discomfort. No discomfort does not mean no harm. The three highs must be measured actively to see if there is hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia. If there are three highs, they must be actively and regularly controlled, because the three highs are the main causes of atherosclerosis and cerebral infarction.

2. It’s not too late to quit smoking and drinking

Many people who smoke and drink are unwilling to quit when they are 50 years old. They either think that they have been smoking for their whole lives and it is useless to quit, or they think that they are not sick and continue to smoke and drink. As we said above, smoking is the second leading cause of cerebral infarction. It not only causes cerebral infarction, but also myocardial infarction, cancer and other diseases. Drinking, especially alcoholism, is a common cause of stroke. Studies have shown that quitting smoking at any time is beneficial, and quitting smoking early brings more benefits.

3. Healthy living is the basis for preventing cerebral infarction

All causes of atherosclerosis are closely related to an unhealthy lifestyle. Unhealthy diet, obesity, lack of exercise, staying up late, stress, etc. will accelerate and aggravate it. In order to prevent atherosclerosis, we must start from daily life, insist on exercise, control weight, do not stay up late, reduce stress, eat a low-salt and low-oil diet, eat more vegetables, fruits, fish, etc.

4. Cardiac thrombosis cannot be ignored, and the treatment options are different

One cause of cerebral infarction is atherosclerosis. Severe carotid artery plaques require aspirin and statins, which can stabilize the plaques, prevent thrombosis, and thus prevent cerebral infarction.

The blood clots caused by atrial fibrillation cannot be controlled by aspirin and statins, but require anticoagulant therapy. Common drugs include warfarin, dabigatran, and rivaroxaban. This must be made clear.

In short, after the age of 50, cerebral infarction is more common. We must pay attention to prevention, take care of ourselves, start with daily healthy living, and start with monitoring the three highs!