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A stroke is a medical emergency, and it is imperative to receive prompt treatment. Therefore, every individual must have a sound knowledge about this health condition as that would help them prevent it and also make them aware of the symptoms to look out for. This particular article would act as a perfect guide in letting one know what causes a stroke and all related facts.
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Before diving into detailed facts related to stroke, one must first be aware of what is a stroke. A stroke also referred to as a cerebrovascular accident, CVA, or "brain attack," is an emergency medical condition that demands prompt treatment. If it isn’t detected early, there is a possibility of permanent brain damage taking place and the person experiencing it might even die.
Since a stroke is a cerebrovascular disease, it causes an impact on the blood vessels which feed the brain oxygen. If there isn’t a sufficient oxygen supply to the brain, the damage might start to take place.
Strokes are mainly categorised into three main categories, which are illustrated below:
An ischemic stroke can pose several complications for the person experiencing it. Some common medical complications include:
Frequent neurologic complications of an ischemic stroke include elevated intracranial pressure, haemorrhagic transformation, cerebral edema, and seizures.
Proper anticipation of these complications would help expedite the initiation of therapeutic and preventive measures. There are two major types of ischemic stroke, namely, thrombotic stroke and embolic stroke.
A person may experience a range of complications from a haemorrhagic stroke based on the extent of the damage. This includes muscle weakness, difficulty in talking or swallowing, loss of bladder, loss of bowel control, inability to move, loss of vision, loss of hearing, and loss of the sense of touch.
A TIA or transient ischemic attack is often referred to as a mini-stroke or a warning. The complications related to a TIA vary based on the location of artery obstruction. Most commonly, a blockage occurs in the carotid artery system.
There are two carotid arteries that supply blood to two sides of the brain, and if one is blocked, the person might experience symptoms in the eye on the side where arteries are blocked, or there may be symptoms that would affect the body’s opposite side.
The above three different types of strokes can be further classified into some more categories, which are listed down as follows:
An intracerebral haemorrhage or ICH is a life-threatening kind of stroke. An ICH can take place in the deep regions of the brain or close to the surface. Deep haemorrhages can sometimes expand to the ventricles, which are the fluid-filled spaces present in the centre of the brain. If the normal cerebrospinal (CSF) circulation gets blocked, the ventricles can get enlarged, resulting in loss of consciousness, lethargy, and confusion.
Subarachnoid haemorrhage or SAH is a stroke of life threatening nature. A common complication that might occur five to ten days after SAH is vasospasm, in which by-products of blood make the walls of arteries contract and spasm. The inside diameter of an artery gets narrowed because of vasospasm. This causes a reduction in the blood flow to an area of the brain, resulting in a secondary stroke.
An embolic stroke takes place rapidly without any warning sign and usually results from heart surgery or heart disease
These strokes might be preceded by one or multiple mini-strokes or TIAs. Usually, a thrombotic stroke is seen in older human beings, especially those having high levels of cholesterol, diabetes, or atherosclerosis, which refers to a build-up of lipids and fat inside the walls of blood vessels.
Generally, the main cause of stroke is bleeding or blockage of blood vessels, which either lowers or reduces the blood supply to the brain. Due to this, a sufficient amount of nutrients and oxygen is not available to the brain, which in turn leads to the death of brain cells.
Though a stroke generally takes place in the above-mentioned manner, the causes of different types of strokes are distinct.
An ischemic stroke takes place when blood cannot flow to the brain due to a blood clot. This blood clot is usually due to atherosclerosis which refers to the build-up of fat deposits on a blood vessel’s inner lining. A part of the fat deposits can break and cause blockage to the blood flow into the brain. The entire concept is similar to what happens during a heart attack, where a blood clot blocks the blood flow to a part of the heart.
A haemorrhagic stroke occurs when blood is spilled into the surrounding tissues due to the breaking of or rupturing of a blood vessel in the brain. Haemorrhagic strokes are further classified into three major types. The first one is an aneurysm, which leads to a part of the weakened blood vessel ballooning outward and rupturing sometimes.
The second one is an arteriovenous malformation in which the blood vessels are formed in an abnormal manner. If a rupture occurs in such an abnormally formed blood vessel, a hemorrhagic stroke can take place. Thirdly, substantially high blood pressure can weaken the small blood vessels in the brain, thereby resulting in bleeding into the brain.
TIA occurs when anything causes a temporary blockage to the blood flow to the brain. The blood clot and the symptoms of TIA last for a short period.
An ICH is caused because of bleeding within the brain tissue. It is commonly caused due to hypertension, arteriovenous malformations, or head trauma.
Subarachnoid haemorrhage is caused due to bleeding in the surrounding spaces of the brain. A ruptured aneurysm, AVM, or head injury are some of the reasons which can cause SAH.
A blood clot that is formed somewhere else in the body and travels through the bloodstream into the brain bears the potential to cause an embolic stroke. It is found that around 15% of all embolic strokes occur in humans having atrial fibrillation, which is a kind of abnormal heart rhythm characterised by an ineffective beating of the heart’s upper chambers.
A thrombus or blood clots developed in the arteries which supply blood to the brain possess the capability of causing a thrombotic stroke.
A majority of the stroke symptoms in men and women are common, and these include the following:
However, in addition to these, there are additional subtle stroke symptoms in women. These are as follows:
Having mentioned these, one must note that several people are aware of these symptoms but what many are unaware of is that there are silent stroke symptoms as well. This implies that there is a complete possibility that a person can experience a stroke without even noticing it. Given below are all the symptoms of a silent stroke:
At any point in time, if any of the above silent symptoms are noticed, one must immediately call an ambulance. Medical help should be sought as early as possible, even if the person claims that the symptoms are no longer visible.
Though the symptoms of stroke make a sudden appearance, some individuals experience symptoms before a stroke. Signs like numbness, headache, or tingling are sometimes observed several days before a serious stroke.
A stroke originates rapidly. To get the best outcome, an individual must get treated at a hospital within three hours of the first appearance of symptoms.
A doctor can make use of several different diagnostic tests for stroke to determine the stroke type. These tests to determine stroke include:
The stroke type can only be confirmed through a brain scan conducted in a hospital.
A stroke can occur to any individual irrespective of age. The chances of having a stroke increase if an individual faces certain risk factors. Some can be changed or managed out of all of these risk factors, while some cannot be managed.
Some common risk factors for stroke which can be treated, changed or medically managed include:
Besides these major risk factors for stroke, some risk factors cannot be changed. These include:
In addition to the above, given below are the causes of a stroke in a woman. These factors are associated with an increased risk of stroke in a woman:
The best treatment for stroke depends on whether the stroke is an ischemic or haemorrhagic one.
For ischemic stroke treatment, blood flow must be rapidly restored to the brain of the individual. This can be carried out with:
Some other procedures are used to decrease the risk of another stroke or transient ischemic attack taking place. These include:
Emergency treatment of haemorrhagic stroke aims to control bleeding and lowers the pressure in the brain caused because of excessive fluid. The various treatment options for this include:
Besides these, there are some other options like surgical AVM removal, coiling or endovascular embolization, and surgery.
Apart from these, mild stroke treatment or partial stroke treatment options, which basically imply treatment for TIA, include antiplatelet drugs, anticoagulants, minimally invasive carotid intervention, lifestyle changes and surgery.
The prevention and control of stroke can be done through the following ways:
In addition to these best ways to prevent stroke, one must exercise on a regular basis and eat healthy food to prevent strokes.
Now that you are aware of what causes a stroke and all related facts, note the symptoms regarding your close ones. Accordingly, take the necessary steps if you notice any signs of stroke.
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Disclaimer #2: This information is added only for informative purposes and collected from different sources across the Internet. Digit Insurance is not promoting or recommending anything here. Please verify the information before making any decisions.
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