What is a Stroke?

What is a Stroke

My wife Rock had a Hemorrhagic Stroke and she stayed in the hospital for 11 days. Upon her discharge her physiotherapy sessions started immediately. At the Physio Clinic I met other strokees and to my shock, there was a boy of 11 and a mid-twenties woman! It is hard to understand that people at such young age have a Stroke. I could not believe that people at such young age suffer from High Blood Pressure or High Cholesterol which are the usual causes. The American Stroke Association extracted the information below. Being a non-medical person I have to reproduce the content here for accuracy.

This condition comes under the following categories:-

1. Ischemic Stroke which is where a blood clot within a blood vessel.

2. Hemorrhagic Stroke is where a blood vessel ruptures and blood leaks into the brain.

A high percentage (80%) of Strokes is the Ischemic Type. The underlying condition of this type of obstruction is the development of fatty deposits along the vessel walls. This condition is called atherosclerosis. These fatty deposits can cause two types of obstruction:

Cerebral thrombosis refers to a thrombus (blood clot) that develops at the clogged part of the vessel.

Cerebral embolism refers generally to a blood clot that forms at another location in the circulatory system, usually the heart and large arteries of the upper chest and neck. A portion of the blood clot breaks loose, enters the bloodstream and travels through the brain’s blood vessels until it reaches vessels too small to let it pass. A second important cause of embolism is an irregular heartbeat, known as atrial fibrillation. It creates conditions where clots can form in the heart, dislodge and travel to the brain.

Hemorrhagic stroke accounts for about 17 percent of the cases.

It results from a weakened vessel that ruptures and bleeds into the surrounding brain. The blood accumulates and compresses the surrounding brain tissue. The two types of hemorrhagic strokes are intra-cerebral hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage.

Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a weakened blood vessel ruptures. Two types of weakened blood vessels usually cause hemorrhagic stroke: aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).

An aneurysm is a ballooning of a weakened region of a blood vessel. If left untreated, the aneurysm continues to weaken until it ruptures and bleeds into the brain. That 11 year old boy and the young woman mentioned above were of this type.

An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is a cluster of abnormally formed blood vessels. Any one of these vessels can rupture, also causing bleeding into the brain.

There is what is commonly called Transient ischemic attacks. Also called TIAs, transient ischemic attacks are minor or warning strokes. In a TIA, conditions indicative of an ischemic stroke are present and the typical warning signs develop. However, the obstruction (blood clot) occurs for a short time and tends to resolve itself through normal mechanisms.

Even though the symptoms disappear after a short time, TIAs are strong indicators of a possible major stroke. Steps should be taken immediately to prevent a stroke.

Act Now! Improve patient’s mobility with Falcon lightweight wheelchair

Keep this walking stick handy, and be safe.

Read related posts on Stroke:
Facts of Stroke & The Warning Signs

Eating & The Stroke Survivor

Understanding Spasticity

Additional Reading on Healthy Living

[tags]Ischemic Stroke, Hemorrhagic Stroke, Cerebral thrombosis, aneurysm, arteriovenous malformation, stroke[/tags]