May 2015- Stroke Awareness Month

As we all know, every month marks a new health awareness theme.  For the month of May, there are three topics on my radar and they are:

• High Blood Pressure Awareness
• Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention
• Stroke Awareness Month

In an effort to increase awareness, I am devoting the month of May to highlight these awareness topics with a new post every week on Tuesdays.  For this post, I am going to focus on Stroke Awareness Month.  First things first, what is a stroke?  A stroke is a medical emergency that happens when a part of the brain dies from lack of blood, usually due to a damaged artery.  The most common way this happens is when there is a blockage of a blood vessel in the brain, by a blood clot or fatty deposits on the vessel wall.  Another way stroke occurs is when there's a ruptured blood vessel that disrupts normal blood flow causing leaking into the brain.

What are the signs of stroke?
The best way to remember this is through the acronym, FAST.

• Facial weakness (sudden severe inexplicable headache)- Can the person smile? Does one side of the face droop?
• Arm and Leg Weakness (generally sudden numbness, particularly on one side of the body)- Can the person raise both arms? Does one arm drift downward?
• Speech impairments (slurred or troubled speech, confusion)- Can the person say a simple phrase?  Is their speech slurred or strange?
• Time is critical- Call 911, don't hesitate

If just one of these signs is happening, call 911 immediately.  While it could turn out to be a false alarm, it's absolutely better to take precaution.  If not a stroke, there is likely still a medical emergency occurring.  Though the situation is frightening, try to maintain a timeline of the symptoms.  Doctors will need as much information as possible and any detail you can provide will be helpful.

What are the risk factors for a stroke?
 Lifestyle factors such as obesity and smoking can increase your risk for a stroke, as does medical conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. There are also other uncontrollable factors such as family history, gender, race, and other preexisting conditions.  Talk to your physician to discuss your risk factors and prevention.  Maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle can help to reduce the changes.

Dispelling a couple of myths

• It's not an "old people's disease"- Strokes can happen to anyone of any age.
• Once a person has one stroke, they are immune from future strokes-  Unfortunately, no.  I know from personal family experience that this is not true.

Get more of the myths vs. facts here: http://www.stroke.org/understand-stroke/what-stroke/stroke-facts


Learn more about strokes and awareness below:
National Stroke Association: http://www.stroke.org
Mayo Clinic: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stroke/home/ovc-20117264 
U.S. National Library of Medicine: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stroke.html

I'm also tweeting about this (and a variety of topics!) here (@MsVibrantLady)

Beyond the Hashtag: #WaterIs

#WorldWaterDay

World Water Day was March 22, 2015 and while I was able to participate in an interesting Twitter chat, the main hashtag #WaterIs got me thinking.  That's how you know a hashtag is effective--it makes you think!  Water is everything; it is life, survival, hygiene, relaxing, healing, and the list goes on.  Yet for as essential as water is, there are far too many people on this planet who don't have access to safe reservoirs of it.  On the flip side, many people who have an abundance of access waste it.  What an imbalance!  What can we do to truly affect change?  Here are my thoughts below:

Identify the biggest ways you waste water and stop
When I think about my daily habits, I can easily pinpoint a few instances where I've used more water than needed.  Think about it? How much water does it take to brush teeth or moisturize and cleanse your face?  While it might seem like only a few minutes, that's liters of precious water being wasted.  Does the faucet really need to run while you're brushing those pearly whites?  No!  Also, when washing dishes, does the water really need to run while you're soaping up the dishes?  Now while I have tried to be more conscious of how long I let the water run when washing dishes, I am clean-obsessed and have on occasion let water run while I'm soaping up dishes.  Gotta admit when you're wrong to make it better right?

Brainstorm ways on how you can reduce water consumption...and do it!

• Take shorter showers
• Wash full loads of laundry
• Cook with strictly the amount of water you need (same thing goes with making coffee!)
• Start-stop the faucet when brushing teeth or washing dishes (water does not need to run the entire time)
• Flush toilets wisely (sometimes we flush unnecessarily, be strategic)

These are just a few ideas but I bet there are more...would love to get your thoughts!

Get the message out there!
Tell you family, tell your friends, shout it on the rooftops!  Okay, so maybe not that last one but seriously I think awareness is key.  I think once you've modified your own habits and become aware, you'll be more empowered to suggest how others can reduce their water consumption. Sharing your success and impact is more powerful than you know.

Learn more about organizations that help populations lacking access to safe water sources
We are all one world!  While many of us have the luxury and are blessed enough to not have to worry about this issue, unfortunately that is not the case for many around the planet.  According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation, at least 1.8 billion people world-wide are estimated to drink water that is faecally contaminated. (Source: http://www.unwater.org/statistics/en/ ) Lack of safe water yields disease, dehydration, and economic strife among other things.

Here are few organizations truly working to make a difference:
The Water Project: http://thewaterproject.org/
WaterAid: http://www.wateraid.org/what-we-do
Waves for Water: http://www.wavesforwater.org/about/story

For more information on the world water crisis and how YOU can help make a difference, please visit:  http://www.unwater.org/


#WaterIs ... LIFE!  So let's spread the love and help save LIVES :-)