Mercy Stroke Center

Preventing a Stroke

While certain stroke risk factors including age, gender, heredity and race cannot be controlled, stroke is largely preventable. Research has shown that you can reduce your stroke risk by living a healthy lifestyle which means:

• controlling high blood pressure
  
• not smoking
• eating a balanced, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet
• being physically active
• maintaining a healthy body weight
• drinking alcohol minimally or not at all
• managing diabetes

Mercy has resources to help including smoking cessation classes, exercise classes, online healthy recipes and even a JumpStart Personal Coaching Program! Talk to your doctor today about your risk factors for stroke and learn simple steps you can begin taking to control them.