These 5 Lifestyle Changes Can Help Prevent a Second Stroke

• The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have released guidelines for people who have had a stroke.
• The organizations encourage doctors to consult with other medical professionals to help determine the cause of a person’s stroke to reduce their risk of a second one.
• They also advise people who have had a stroke to adopt a regular exercise program, eat a healthy diet, get adequate sleep, and reduce stress.

Having had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) increases your risk of another one.

But you can take steps to lower that risk.

Each year, about 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. About 185,000 strokes occur in people who’ve already had at least one stroke.

In addition, approximately 240,000 people have a TIA, or ministroke, each year. About 9 to 17 percent of those people will have a stroke within 90 days.

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability. And someone dies of stroke every 4 minutes.

New guidelines from the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA) outline recommendations for doctors to help their patients avoid another stroke.

“Approximately 80 percent of strokes can be prevented by controlling blood pressure, eating a healthy diet, engaging in regular physical activity, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight,” said Dr. Amytis Towfighi, vice chair of the guideline writing group for the AHA and director of neurological services at the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, in a statement.