A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. It can be identifiable by “FAST”
F=Face Dropping A=Arm Weakness S=Speech Difficulty T=Time to Call.
WHAT ARE THE TYPE OF STROKE?
There are two main types of stroke:
1) Ischemic Stroke – lack of blood flow,
2) Hemorrhagic Stroke-bleeding.
Both cause parts of the brain to stop functioning properly.
What is Ischemic stroke?
This is most common type.
It happens when brain’s blood vessels become narrowed causing severely reduced blood flow (ischemia) caused by fatty deposits or blood clots or debris traveling through bloodstream, most often from heart, and lodge in blood vessels in brain.
What is Hemorrhagic stroke?
This occurs when blood vessel in brain leaks or ruptures. Brain hemorrhages can result from conditions affecting blood vessels.
👉Transient ischemic attack (TIA)👈
This is sometimes known as ministroke.
A TIA doesn’t cause permanent damage.
A TIA is caused by temporary decrease in blood supply to part of brain, which may last as little as 5 minutes.
Risk Factors
- Lifestyle risk factors
- Being overweight or obese
- Physical inactivity
- Alcoholism
- Drug use
Medical risk factors
- High blood pressure
- Cigarette smoking
- High cholesterol
- Diabetes
Higher risk of stroke include:
Age —( People age 55 or older)
Race —( African Americans)
Sex — (Men have a higher risk than do women)
Hormones — (Use of birth control pills or hormone therapies.)
Symptoms
- Difficulty in speaking and understanding what others are saying.
- Difficulty in speaking and understanding what others are saying.
- Paralysis or numbness of the face, arm or leg.
- Vision problem
- Headache-severe headache with vision problem
- Headache ccompanied by vomiting, dizziness or altered consciousness, may indicate that you’re having a stroke.
- Trouble walking.You may stumble or lose your balance.
Diagnosis
- Physical Examination
- Blood Tests.
- Computerized tomography (CT) scan
- Carotid ultrasound.
- Cerebral angiogram.
- Echocardiogram
Treatment
Emergency IV medication.
Emergency endovascular procedures
Medications delivered directly to the brain.
Removing the clot with a stent retriever
Carotid endarterectomy
Angioplasty and stents
Surgery
Surgical Clipping.