don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

A stroke is a terrible and usually catastrophic illness. The worst of it is you don't always die right away! A stroke is basically a brain attack -- much like a heart attack, the number one killer of Americans and others in so-called developed countries.

The art of self-management is usually focused on day-to-day payoffs of a positive, upbeat approach to optimal health and life effectiveness. However, this lifestyle is also a very good way to prepare for a proper old age. It will help your chances of compressing senescence. Senescence is that dreaded period late in life reserved for those fortunate enough not to get eliminated unexpectedly.

We all want to stay alive long enough to qualify for the chance to wear out, but not to hang around too long in such a condition. While this period may not seem very attractive at first blush, it does beat the alternative -- dying while still capable of having a life you consider meaningful and rewarding, while you are still having good times, at least now and then.

Self-management promoters do not deal much with illnesses, which is the province of the medical community. But, illness, disease, and death are realities, no matter how much we promote and live wellness lifestyles. For that reason, I offer this perspective for your consideration. But first, a quick overview of a few facts will set the stage for my proposed perspective.

Strokes cause a range of effects, along a continuum from bad, to worse, to much-much worse. Another way of expressing this is that the continuum extends from paralysis or death at one extreme to symptoms that are barely noticeable at the other extreme. The former (paralysis) can be physical and/or mental -- either can be nearly terminal insofar as life quality is concerned. In every case, however, the cause of a stroke is always the same -- an interruption of the blood supply to all or a portion of the brain. As you might expect, any organ denied blood flow will cease to function properly, if at all, depending upon the degree of interruption.

Whether of an ischemic (caused by blood clots) or hemorrhagic (blood vessel rupture) nature, the reduction of your risks of suffering a stroke is just one of many very good negative reasons to adopt an ambitious lifestyle. Yet, this negative good reason and so many other negative good reasons (such as reduced risk of adult onset diabetes, heart attacks, less likelihood of liver failure, and lower prospects of impotency) pale in comparison with the positive good reasons to choose and sustain self-managing attitudes and behavior patterns. These include higher quality of life benefits, including higher self-efficacy, more energy, improved physical attractiveness, and more enjoyment and work/life satisfaction.

For example, a lot of attention has been given to the effects of smoking on sexual dysfunction. This is another instance of negative good reasons not to smoke. A positive good reason would be better sexual functioning and all the pleasures associated with that. (The exact nature of these pleasures has not been established scientifically based on double blind, cross over trials of a longitudinal, horizontal, or dignified nature, but when the experimenters are ready to conduct the testing, I'm sure there will be no shortage of male volunteers.)

Of course, the same measures that doctors recommend for preventing a stroke (and heart attacks, diabetes, erectile dysfunctions, and other health problems) are among the same measures that one would embrace to pursue a proper lifestyle. Specifically, eat wisely, exercise regularly, avoid self-destructive habits, (such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, self-pity) and do what you must to enjoy life, remain interested, and have valued purposes.

You probably will agree that these and related initiatives will help you avoid the bad outcomes and increase your experience of the good things. So, choose to self-manage. There are no guarantees -- the fittest, most diligent lifestyle artist and savant could still have a brain attack at some point in life -- or get run over by a bus, for that matter, but the odds are in your favor when you practice skilled self-management. Other things being the same, always go with the better odds.

Stay well.

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

 Send e-mail to Don Ardell