What Having a Stroke Could Mean to You

By Anika Logan

A Stroke takes place when blood flow is cut off to a portion of the brain or when a blood vessel suddenly bursts in the brain. This causes blood to them spill into the neighboring spaces the surround the cells of the brain. Within a matter of precious few minutes brain cells then begin to die because they are not able to receive any nutrients or oxygen from the bloodstream or else because there is Bleeding into the brain or around the brain. A Stroke is also sometimes called a brain attack and it is a medical emergency of the utmost priority.

Strokes are broken down into two categories- there is the ischemic Stroke and the hemorrhagic Stroke. The ischemic Stroke occurs when there is blockage in a blood vessel (or blood clot) that supplies oxygen to the brain. The hemorrhagic Stroke occurs as a result of a blood vessel that bursts and bleeds either into the brain or around the brain. There is also what is known as transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) or “mini-strokes” and these take place when the supply of blood to the brain is interrupted for the briefest period of time.

Who is Most Likely to Suffer From a Stroke?

Over the past the decades the amount of deaths due to strokes has been reduced by 60 percent. Unfortunately strokes are still the number one leading cause of disability in the United States. Strokes can affect individuals at any age but the risk of suffering one has a tendency to double every 10 years for people over the age of 55 years.

There are many factors besides age that can play a role in whether or not a person will suffer from a Stroke. Family history plays a role in who will suffer a Stroke. For example those who had a parent, grandparent or sibling suffer from a Stroke or mini-Stroke are more likely to suffer from one themselves. Both men and women are equally as likely to suffer from a Stroke although women tend to die more readily from strokes than do men. African Americans are more prone to strokes than those of other races and this is related in part to the greater prevalence of Diabetes and high Blood pressure that this race suffers from.

Individual who have already suffered one Stroke are very likely to suffer another one as this increases your risk tremendously. People who have suffered a mini-Stroke are believed to be nine times as likely to suffer a Stroke another Stroke in relation to those who have never suffered one at all.

People who suffer from high Blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity or cardiovascular disease are more likely to suffer a Stroke than those who do not. As well smokers are more inclined to suffering strokes because of the plaque that builds up on the artery walls. Women who take birth control pills are more likely to suffer from a Stroke than women who do not and the risk is increased fro women who smoke as well as women who take birth control pills beyond the age of 35 years. Stress that is out of control can also be a contributing factor to suffering a Stroke as can binge drinking or using illicit drugs such as cocaine.

Symptoms of a Stroke

The symptoms that a person is having a Stroke include:

-A sudden feeling of weakness or numbness in the face arms of legs. A Stroke is more likely to affect only one side of the body such as the left arm and left leg.

-Confusion that comes upon you all of a sudden accompanied by difficulty talking and/or understanding the speech of others.

-Difficulty seeing clearly out of one eye or possibly both all of a sudden.

-Difficulty in walking as well as a feeling of dizziness and a loss of coordination or balance.

-Severe headaches that occur out of the blue and do not have an obvious cause.

New treatments have been developed to help decrease the amount of brain damage that is a consequence of suffering a Stroke. It is important to be aware that this treatment is very time sensitive. In other words it is only effective for the Stroke sufferer if it is administered within three to six hours from the time the Stroke started. This is why it is of paramount importance that the warning signs of a Stroke are identified immediately and medical attention be sought right away to reduce the severity of the damage to the patient. The longer period of time the Stroke remains untreated the more potential there is more damage as well as permanent disability.

What a Stroke is Capable of Doing

A Stroke can be very debilitating and can affect an individual in many ways. A Stroke can potentially affect a person’s ability to feel pain, movement, temperature and to touch objects properly. A Stroke can affect a person’s vision as well as what the eyes interpret that they are looking at. The ability to think as well as reason, remember, plan, understand and problem solve is altered when a Stroke takes place. An individuals’ ability to communicate in regards to talking and understanding the words of others is affected, as is the ability to write and perform mathematical calculations. Other aspects of a person’s life that is likely to see changes after a Stroke include their personality, their emotions and their behaviour.

Prevention of a Stroke

Prevention is key when it comes to keeping a Stroke at bay. This can be done by way of making lifestyle modifications such as eating a healthy well balanced diet, engaging in physical fitness on a regular basis, keeping to an appropriate weight, drinking moderately or not at all, quitting smoking, and making sure to have both your Blood pressure and cholesterol checked on a regular basis. Inquire of your physician if it would be beneficial to you to consume a low-dose aspirin (or another type of drug) in order to decrease the chance of blood clots.

Research studies looking at strokes have pointed to certain foods as being beneficial in the fight against strokes. It is wise to eat five or more servings of fruits and vegetables on a daily basis because of the large amounts of antioxidants, folate and potassium that they are composed of. Foods that are choked full of soluble fiber should be included as a part of a daily diet such as beans and oatmeal. Foods that are rich in calcium are beneficial as are soy products that are capable of both raiding the level of HDL (good) cholesterol in the blood and reducing the amount of LDL (bad) cholesterol in the blood.

To learn more about strokes visit these websites-

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/stroke.html

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/stroke.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/heartdisease/basics/290.html