PT Health Life – A stroke (or cerebrovascular accident) occurs when the supply of blood and oxygen to part of the brain is interrupted, causing cells to die, causing damage to brain tissue.
According to records, many cases of stroke start in the early morning, the highest rate is at 6-8 hours on workdays and 8-10 hours on holidays.
According to research, up to 62.9% of patients have strokes that occur early in the morning between 5-8 am. So why do strokes often happen so early in the morning?
1. Early morning can easily trigger a stroke
The reason strokes easily occur in the early morning is due to changes in the patient’s hormones and blood pressure. When you wake up in the morning, you will move from a lying position to an active position, changing hormone levels.
These hormones cause two conditions, the first is an increase in heart rate and blood pressure , the second is an increase in the tone of the arteries.
Normally, the body’s blood pressure drops to its lowest level at about 3 am, then gradually increases and increases rapidly when waking up in the morning.
When you wake up, your body releases adrenaline and other stress hormones, increasing blood pressure and the need for oxygen. After one night, the body loses a relatively large amount of water, the blood becomes more concentrated, the heart has to work harder to pump the blood.
When high blood pressure increases the need for oxygen for the heart muscle, making the heart muscle unstable due to blood pressure differences, increasing the risk of damage to atherosclerotic plaques, causing these plaques to tear. , broken, flaky. At this time, they will activate platelets, causing thrombosis and cerebral embolism, causing acute ischemic stroke.
The second cause associated with morning stroke is low levels of nitric oxide upon waking. Nitric oxide (NO for short) plays an important role in stopping bleeding, it participates in most biological processes in the body such as awakening, sexual function, pain, satisfaction, and regulation. Blood and nutrients nourish the body…
And most importantly, the activity of NO plays an important role in the aging process, expanding blood vessels to increase the flow of oxygen and nutrients to nourish the body. It is also an important factor determining the health of the body. stroke, diabetes…
NO consumption is greatest at night, so when we wake up early in the morning, the human body often lacks NO, which also leads to strokes in the early morning.
2. How to prevent stroke?
Most stroke patients have previous risk factors, so prevention through treatment and close monitoring of risk factors is key to stroke prevention. Risk factors for stroke include: hypertension, atrial fibrillation, fat metabolism disorders, diabetes, valvular heart disease, heart failure, smoking, etc.
However, there are quite common measures to prevent morning strokes as follows:
- After waking up, you should take a few minutes for your body to get used to the new state and be completely awake before getting out of bed. You can lie in bed and do a few “warm up” movements, gently stretch your legs and arms, rub your face… For people with a history of cardiovascular disease, they need to be even more careful every morning.
- At night before going to bed, you should drink a glass of warm water. This will both stimulate sleepiness and prevent dryness the next morning, reduce blood viscosity, and reduce pressure on the body. heart.
- In addition, exercising, playing sports, avoiding risk factors such as tobacco, alcohol and a reasonable diet will bring great benefits. You should increase clean foods rich in vitamin C and antioxidants.