I'm interested to share today's Stroke-Proof tip because it's an area I hadn't really thought as a risk factor before, but I know realise that it very much is! When people think about preventing stroke they think about: 🏃 Exercise 🥗 Diet 🚭 Smoking 🩸 Blood pressure 💊 Cholesterol Very few people think about their gums. Periodontal (gum) disease is a chronic inflammatory condition caused by bacteria around the teeth. Those bacteria don't always stay in your mouth. They can enter the bloodstream, increase systemic inflammation, damage blood vessels and may contribute to atherosclerosis and blood clot formation. Several large studies have found that people with periodontitis have a significantly higher risk of stroke. The latest systematic review analysed 36 studies involving more than 7.6 million people and found that periodontal disease was associated with around a 72% higher odds of stroke, with an even stronger association for ischaemic stroke. (PubMed) Fortunately... A recent systematic review found that treating periodontal disease—particularly regular professional dental scaling—was associated with a lower risk of future ischaemic stroke. (PubMed) Now, this doesn't prove that brushing your teeth prevents stroke. People with good oral hygiene often have other healthy habits too, and most of the evidence is observational. But we already know that good oral health has many benefits, and there's increasing evidence that it forms part of overall cardiovascular health. So if you're trying to become Stroke-Proof, don't stop at the gym or the kitchen. ✅ Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste ✅ Clean between your teeth every day (floss or interdental brushes) ✅ See your dentist regularly ✅ Don't ignore bleeding gums—they're common, but they're not normal. However.... Be cautiuous with broad-spectrum antiseptic mouthwashes (particularly chlorhexidine, unless specifically prescribed by your dentist).

Diabetes is not just a blood sugar problem. It is a blood vessel problem. And that means it is a brain problem too. People with diabetes have around a 1.5–2 times higher risk of stroke compared with people without diabetes. Some studies show the risk is even higher depending on age, duration of diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, smoking and other risk factors. But the problem often starts before diabetes is officially diagnosed. First there is insulin resistance (your body needing to produce more and more insulin tio achieve the same goal), then there is pre-diabetes (blood sugar starts creeping up as the ability to produice enough insulin is overwhelmed), then diabetes (blood sugar crosses a certain threshold). Over time this insulin resistance causes other problems: ❌ Higher blood pressure ❌ More abdominal weight gain ❌ Higher triglycerides (bad fats) ❌ Fatty liver ❌ Inflammation ❌ Damage to blood vessels ❌ Higher risk of full type 2 diabetes And for Stroke Proof, this matters because healthy brain arteries need healthy metabolic health. High glucose, high insulin, high blood pressure and abnormal cholesterol do not politely stay in separate boxes. They overlap and amplify each other, each contributing to blood vessel damage and narrowing and helping the other factors to do so too. For example, high blood sugar damages the glycocalyx (think of this as a teflon lining for the arteries), meanwhile high blood pressure makes little cracks in the artery walls. Both of these make it easier for LDL cholesterol to get through the artery's inner lining and get into the artery wall. The more LDL cholesterl there is floating around the more gets in. That is also why diabetes is also one of the recognised modifiable risk factors for dementia as those little blockages int he brain affect memory as well as causing full blown strokes. So what can you do? Not everything is in your control, and nobody should be shamed for developing diabetes. Genetics, medication, deprivation, sleep, stress, ethnicity, hormones and environment all matter.

Has anyone tried a Med Diet? And if so would they recommend if?

Interested to know and it might be a silly question but is there a point when progress following stroke that progress stops. People at the group ask that question and my answer is take small steps to move forward .

https://youtu.be/abwH9rIT18I