According to WHO, around 15 million people suffer a stroke annually. Of these 5 million die and a significant number of the remaining population suffer a disability for a lifetime due to stroke. This not only affects the individual but the entire family. Read further to understand how strokes are caused and if there is a way to prevent them.
Strokes are caused when one or more blood vessels present in the brain get ruptured and bleed or if they get clogged, blocking the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain. As a result of the lack of oxygen in the brain, the cells and tissues in the brain stop functioning and begin to die within seconds of the occurrence.
Strokes are a leading cause of death among middle-aged and older individuals and every year thousands of people are reported to have died because of it.
Some individuals are potentially at a higher risk of suffering from a stroke than others. Several factors come into play when determining who is at greater risk like gender, ethnicity, age etc. Main cause in the majority of cases is high/uncontrolled blood pressure.
Men are supposedly at a higher risk of suffering from strokes than women while Hispanics and African Americans are more susceptible to strokes than people of other races. What are these factors? Let us find out about some of them so that they can be treated at the earliest.
The symptoms of a stroke may appear out of the blue or the body may be giving signs due in advance. Regardless of that, it is important to be aware of the symptoms of a stroke so that one can seek help when in need. While it is difficult to identify the internal signs that a body gives before suffering from a stroke, here are 9 external symptoms that can be easily assessed.
F- Face drooping
A-Arm weakness
S- Speech disorientation
T- Time to act
Here are some ways of caring for a person who is suffering from a stroke:
Always remember- every second counts and early intervention by a doctor can increase the chances of a positive outcome
The following are some ways you can care for a person who has suffered a stroke and needs rehabilitation:
Prevention is better than cure. Therefore, it is important to follow some tips to reduce the risk of occurrence of a stroke, especially among people who are more prone to it.
These measures are usually the basics of living a healthy lifestyle.
The health of the different organs of your body is to a large extent dependent on your lifestyle choices. So by being cautious, you can do your body a huge favour.
Disclaimer: The information included on this site is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a healthcare professional. Because of unique individual needs, the reader should consult their physician to determine the appropriateness of the information for the reader’s situation.
Dizziness is mostly considered to be a benign problem. It is a common public perception as well as thinking of most general practitioners that dizziness or vertigo arises from disorders of the cervical spine. This leads to mistaken advise of getting an MRI scan of the cervical spine and then to use a cervical collar for the prevention of such vertigo. The purpose of this blog is to create awareness among the public, as well as the doctors regarding the occasional serious nature of this complaint.
Here’s a case study:
A 60-year-old male complained of recurrent dizziness ( or chakkar as we know it in Hindi) with occasional loss of awareness and weakness and numbness involving all four limbs. Each episode used to last for 20 minutes with spontaneous recovery. The patient consulted his physician, who prescribed him a cervical collar and antivertigo treatment. After such four-five attacks over one week, the patient suddenly developed difficulty in getting up and walking, this did not resolve.
When he came to us, he was looking normal on the bed. He could see, talk, eat, drink and move all four limbs. But when asked to sit or stand, he could not do it at all. The MRI of his brain confirmed a large area of damage to the cerebellum, which controls the balance of the body. Angiography of the brain revealed that his one vertebral artery was blocked and the other vertebral was severely stenosed in the brain, resulting in poor flow to the lifeline i.e. basilar artery.
What is the basilar artery? There are two vertebral arteries, which unite to form the basilar artery. This basilar artery is the most important blood vessel of the brain. If flow to this vessel is interrupted, vital areas of the brain (brain-stem) and the area which controls vision (occipital lobes) and balance (cerebellum) can be damaged permanently.
The patient’s area of balance was already damaged while the brainstem and vision were at risk. Further damage to occipital areas could have resulted in complete loss of vision for life and damage to the brainstem could have resulted in complete loss of power in all four limbs, paralysis of muscles of swallowing, eye movements or even in a coma or vegetative state (awake coma). In such a situation, the only solution is to re-establish flow in the basilar artery, which was possible only if we could open one of his vertebral arteries in the brain.
Since this is a tricky procedure, after taking high-risk consent, the patient was taken to the cath lab and a stent was put in the stenosed vertebral artery. Today, the patient has started walking with support with no other deficits. Flow in the basilar artery is also normal now.
Any person who suffers from the sudden onset of RESCUE symptoms is suffering from stroke unless proved otherwise.
RESCUE stands for:
Anybody who complains of dizziness along with a change in the level of consciousness or weakness in the limbs or visual disturbance is at high risk of having stenosis of a basilar artery or reduced flow in this vessel because of severe compromise in the blood flow in both the vertebral arteries. Timely diagnosis of such a disorder can be lifesaving. This condition requires medical intervention, therefore, do not self-diagnose or take medications without proper consultation. However, this type of stenting is not a routine procedure and requires excellent clinical skills and experience. Intracranial stenting in brain vessels is still in infancy state all over the world and there are hardly 2-3 centres in India, who have done such procedures that too in very few cases.
Written by:
Dr Arun Garg is a Senior Neurologist with a primary focus on stroke. Earlier, he developed neurology services at Max Hospital, Patparganj. He has worked at Sawai Man Singh Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur and Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences, New Delhi. He pioneered the role of thrombolysis in acute stroke in Delhi. His interest also lies in neuro-rehabilitation, occupational therapy and stroke prevention. His passion for stroke has taken him to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMASS), Massachusetts, USA and he has tied up with them for stroke prevention, education, treatment, rehabilitation and the latest research.
Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational/awareness purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for medical treatment by a healthcare professional and should not be relied upon to diagnose or treat any medical condition. The reader should consult a registered medical practitioner to determine the appropriateness of the information and before consuming any medication. PharmEasy does not provide any guarantee or warranty (express or implied) regarding the accuracy, adequacy, completeness, legality, reliability or usefulness of the information; and disclaims any liability arising thereof.
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