“I was not managing my blood pressure. My doctor at the time said, ‘Oh, we’ll work it out,’ and she actually was not aggressive with me. I’m not blaming it on her because I should have taken some responsibility for myself, because I’ve had high blood pressure all of my life,” Rev. Edmund Lowe Sr., pastor at Christ Our Redeemer AME Church in Florissant, Mo. admitted.
Taking responsibility for your own health means reducing stress, exercising regularly, a healthier diet and working as a team with your family and your doctor to manage medical conditions. That also means speaking up when you think or when you know there is a problem.
Admittedly, it can seem easier said than done, but it is crucial when you think about the fact that strokes are the third leading killer in the U.S. and a leading cause of adult disability.
“I knew I should have been asking more questions,” Lowe said. “I knew I should have been saying when my blood pressure was under control, I was on more than one medication. I was 180/110 on average and it never got better than that. And I knew I should have been saying something.”
A stroke occurs when blood flow is blocked to the brain resulting in a lack of oxygen to the brain and damage to brain cells. When brain cells are severely damage, function is lost in the part of the body controlled by the affected area of the brain. Sometimes the damage is temporary as in a TIA (transient ischemic attack), mini-stroke, or ‘warning’ stroke. The most common type of stroke occurs when a clot forms around fatty deposits lining a blood vessel to the brain. Another type of stroke, hemorrhagic (bleeding), is less common, and results from a weakened vessel or a cluster of abnormally formed blood vessels that rupture and bleed into the surrounding brain, damaging the surrounding brain tissue.
Rev. Lowe’s blood pressure was allowed to remain out of control for 21 months, until August 1, 2007. That’s when he stopped at a convenience store to grab coffee on his way to work.
“I know I pulled into Quick Trip. I didn’t get gas, I went in to get coffee only and the next thing I remember is sitting in the car with coffee all over me with two guys at Quick Trip standing near by door. They were knocking on the window, that woke me up or brought me back,” Lowe recalled.
“They said I came out of the store, I stumbled against my car; I got coffee on me, on my car, on the ground and I got in my car and sat there.
They said, ‘You’ve been sitting here for about five minutes. Are you okay?’
And I said, ‘Fine.’ I was startled that they were there, No. 1. And I said, ‘I’m fine.’ And they said, ‘Are you sure?’”
Lowe told them he needed to go home and change clothes, and instead of seeking immediate medical attention, he went home, changed clothes and went into the office.
“All day long for me, it got progressively worse. By about 2:30 p.m., my hand, my arm was heavy; my leg was heavy on the one side,” Lowe said.
Again, rather than seeking immediate emergency medical attention, Lowe, who lived alone at the time, went home to lie down. That was on a Friday.
That night he woke up confused and didn’t know where he was.
“I remember saying, ‘I’m at Quick Trip and ‘I’m not at Quick Trip.’ And I keep telling myself, ‘I’m at work – no, I’m not at work,’ he described.
“I remember getting up – the house was dark then – and I got up and I started feeling around and I said I’m at home and I felt relieved … And I remember going and sitting in the family room drinking some water and I couldn’t pick up the glass. I opened the refrigerator and pushed the button and let the water go in there … I couldn’t remember how to make my hand … I filled it with my left and I was saying to myself, ‘I need to move that,’
I couldn’t connect how to get that water to my drinking hand.”
He had a similar difficulty with the TV remote.
“I knew I had to push the button; you know what I am saying? Then I said no I need to go push it and I couldn’t and I went over to the TV and I couldn’t get my hand to do that,” Lowe said.
He didn’t go to the hospital until Saturday, when he found out he suffered two strokes.
African Americans are more affected by stroke than any other racial group in the U.S. and they occur at an earlier age. According to the HHS Office of Minority Health, African American adults are almost twice as likely to have a stroke and are more likely to die from a stroke.
Why?
Some of the answers are found in lifestyle, behaviors and genetics. According to the National Stroke Association:
• African Americans have a higher rate of high blood pressure, which is the No. 1 risk factor for stroke (One in three African Americans suffer from high blood pressure)
• Diabetics have a higher stroke risk
• If sickle-shaped red blood cells from sickle cell anemia (genetic disorder) block a blood vessel to the brain, a stroke can result
• Smokers double their risk for a stroke. That risk immediately begins to decrease when smokers quit
• If you are overweight or obese, a lower-sodium (salt), lower-fat diet and more physical activity may help lower blood pressure and risk for stroke.
Rev. Lowe, a recently retired AT& T executive, a local pastor with regional and national level church responsibilities, worked two full time jobs for 20 years. He worked late, slept very little, got up early and started it all over again. He described his eating as “ridiculous” and thought he was handling things by compartmentalizing his stress. He knew his lifestyle was unhealthy but felt he could manage it. He was wrong.
In addition to temporary confusion, the strokes affected his movement on one side, but not his language or speech. Three days after his strokes, Lowe’s symptoms had all but disappeared. He also didn’t need physical therapy. Now he takes steps necessary to control his health – and has a new bride who is a personal health trainer to help keep him on track.
“If I had to put it in a nutshell, it’s taking the control – knowing my limits, eating right, exercising, spending time in meditation, and having a support system,” he said.
Reduce the risk for stroke just as you do for other serious health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity by healthier eating behaviors, regular exercise, reducing stress, taking medicine as prescribed and following the doctor’s advice is crucial.
“Ask some serious questions. What else can be done? Now, if the doctor is telling you to lose weight and you don’t lose weight, you can’t blame him or her,” Lowe said. “If the doctor is saying stop using salt; stop doing fried food –do all of those things.”
For more information, go to www.strokeassociation.org.
Stroke Warning Signs
If someone has suddenly has these symptoms call 9-1-1 or your emergency response number immediately!
• Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
• Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Difficulty walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Severe headache with no known cause
Also, make note of the time the symptoms began. A clot-busting drug (tissue plasminogen activator, called tPA) given within three hours of onset of symptoms can reduce long-term disabling affects of an ischemic stroke.
Source: American Heart Association.
What’s shaking with the salt?
In 2005—2006, the estimated average sodium intake in the U.S. among persons ages 2 and older was 3,436 mg/day.
It is recommended that healthy adults in the United States consume no more than 2,300 mg/day of sodium (equal to approximately 1 tsp of salt) daily.
If you are black, have hypertension, are middle-aged and older, it’s reduced to no more than 1,500 mg/day of sodium.
Source: CDC, MMWR, March 27, 2009
Obesity increases stroke risk
• The more obese, the greater the risk, regardless of gender or race
• Obese blacks are more likely to have a stroke than obese whites
• Obesity’s effect is likely related to increased incidence of cardiovascular risk factors (like high blood pressure and diabetes)
Source: The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institutes, NIH
