Stroke: The seemingly healthy activity that can increase risk by 60% – study warning

Miriam tells Loose Women coming out could be linked to mother's stroke

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Professor Andrew Smyth, one of the members of the team who worked on the study said they found that being emotionally upset, “was linked to an approximately 30 percent increase in risk of stroke” in the hour after the episode.

The increase went up if the person had a history of depression and it went higher for the less well educated.

With regard to extreme physical exertion, Professor Smyth said that it was linked, “to an approximately 60 percent increase in risk of intracerebral haemorrhage during the one hour after the episode”.

Furthermore, there was greater risk for women who had been through some heavy physical exertion, but less risk for those with a normal BMI (Body Mass Index).

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Alongside this the study said that there was, “no increase with exposure to both triggers of anger and physical exertion”.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, will shine a light on our understanding of how strokes are triggered.

Strokes happen when blood supply to part of the brain is cut off.

There are two types of stroke with two different causes.

Ischaemic strokes are the most common.

They occur when a blood clot blocks the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain.

They form where the arteries have been blocked or narrowed over time by fatty deposits.

Another potential cause is a type of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation where the heart beats abnormally fast.

The other type of stroke is called a Haemorrhagic stroke which happens when a blood vessel inside your skull bursts, causing bleeding in and around the brain.

The main cause of this type of stroke is high blood pressure that weakens your brain’s arteries.

As a stroke is a fast-moving emergency situation it is key to know if someone is having one.

According to the NHS they can best be memorised as F.A.S.T.

Face, their face may have dropped on one side, so may have their eye or mouth and they may be unable to smile.

Arms, the individual may not be able to lift both arms or keep them raised once they’ve lifted them.

Speech, their speech might be slurred or garbled, they may be unable to talk at all despite appearing completely awake or they may not understand what you’re communicating to them.

Time, if you see someone experiencing these symptoms, call 999 as soon as possible.

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