T.J. Samson | Destination Health | June 2021

5 things to know about stroke May is Stroke Awareness Month How many times have you reached for ice cream in the freezer or chips in the pantry, not because you were truly hungry but because you felt like you just had to have something to eat? Those may have been times of emotional eating—eating to satisfy emotional needs such as stress, sadness or boredom. We’ve probably all done it at least once in our lives. But it can become a problem when we do it frequently. For one thing, it can cause us to gain weight. And secondly, it doesn’t help address whatever emotional needs we’re trying to avoid. Instead, we’re left with an empty pint of ice cream or bag of chips and a load of guilt for indulging ourselves. Once you recognize yourself as an emotional eater, you can take steps to stop it. But you need to take a good, hard look at why you eat and when you do. ARE YOU AN EMOTIONAL EATER? According to experts, you may be an emotional eater if you: ● Eat because of feelings or situations, not because you’re hungry. ● Feel an urgent need to eat. Real hunger comes on slowly. ● Crave a specific kind of food. Physical hun- ger can be satisfied by almost anything. ● Eat an unusually large amount of food. ● Eat at odd times of day, such as late at night. ● Feel embarrassed or guilty about what you ate. ● Feel like food is a friend. ● Reward yourself with food. KEEP AN EATING DIARY Keeping a diary of your eating habits can help you figure out what triggers your emotional eating. Record the times you overeat.Think about what preceded your urges. Write down your mood; what you ate; and how you felt before, during and after eating. Look for events that may have triggered your emotional desires to eat. Once you’ve identified your triggers, come up with other options for dealing with them. For example, were you feeling lonely? Next time, call a good friend instead of eating. Were you feeling stressed out? Next time, take a walk or a bath. If you decide to see a mental health coun- selor for your emotional eating, your diary can be a big help in your therapy. OTHER STEPS YOU CAN TAKE Maintaining healthy habits in other areas of your life can help you overcome your urges to eat for the wrong reasons. Try: Exercising. Physical activity can help lift your mood. It can also help relieve stress and distract you from food cravings. Getting enough sleep. A good night’s rest can turn off daytime desires for a sugar- filled energy boost. Scheduling relaxation. Set aside time every day to relax and unwind. Talking to a therapist. Ask your primary care provider to recommend a mental health counselor to help you get a handle on your emotional eating. Sources: American Academy of Family Physicians; HelpGuide Wellness How to overcome emotional eating When cravings strike, it’s hard to say no. Get help to move past them at tjregionalhealth.org/cravings . It’s important to understand stroke, and here’s why: Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death for Americans and the leading cause of serious long-term disability. Each year, about 800,000 people in the U.S. have a stroke, and 25% of those are recurrent strokes. These five facts will help you learn the warning signs of strokes, as well as how to prevent them and deal with the emergency if it happens. 1. Strokes affect everyone. Anyone, includ- ing children, can have a stroke at any time, though the risk does go up with age. Race also affects the likelihood of stroke.The risk of having a first stroke is nearly twice as high for Black people as for white people, and Black people have the highest rate of death due to stroke. 2. The majority of strokes are preventable. High blood pressure is the biggest treatable risk factor for stroke.That means that pre- venting it or controlling it, through lifestyle changes and medicine, is critical. You can help do that by eating a healthy diet; staying at a healthy weight; avoiding smoking and secondhand smoke; and preventing or man- aging other health conditions, such as high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity. 3. The two types of strokes are ischemic, We’re stroke-ready. T.J. Samson Community Hospital is one of only 14 locations in Kentucky certified as an Acute Stroke Ready Hospital. Learn more at tjregionalhealth.org/services/emergency-department . where the blood supply to the brain is blocked, and hemorrhagic, where a blood vessel in the brain bursts. Ischemic strokes are far more common, but both types of strokes kill brain cells. 4. These are the FAST warning signs and symp- toms of stroke: 5. Stroke treatment and outcomes depend on how quickly you get to the hospital and the type of stroke you have.The sooner you get treatment for a stroke, the better your chances of surviving and avoiding long-term disability. Sources: American Heart Association; American Stroke Association; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention F Face drooping. After asking the person to smile, does one side droop? A Arm weakness. After asking the person to raise both arms, does one side drift downward? S Speech difficulty. After asking the person to repeat a simple sentence, are the words slurred? T Time to call 911. Don’t delay: If the person shows any of these signs, call 911 immediately. June 2021 7