According to the World Stroke Organization, up to 90% of strokes could be prevented by addressing a small number of risk factors.
If you manage the factors that damage your arteries or together with your doctor you manage the other risk factors that could cause blood clots, you can to a large extend prevent stroke from happening.
Cholesterol
Cholesterol is a waxy substance. It is not inherently “bad.” In fact, your body needs it to build cells. Too much cholesterol can pose a problem though.
When your arteries are damaged by high blood pressure, high blood sugar, or smoking for example, your body tries to heal these damaged arteries with Cholesterol. If this happens too often, or you have too much Cholesterol, it could form a thick, hard deposit on the inside of the arteries. This can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. It could happen that a piece of this thick deposit breaks loose and blocks an artery in your brain, causing a stroke, or alternatively if the problem that caused the damaged arteries persists the artery could narrow so much that blood could not pass through it.
