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For many, our body is something completely unknown, something mysterious and curious at the same time. It is possible to say that most of us do not understand exactly each function of our organism or why certain accidents occur. And it can be very dangerous in some cases. When someone has a stroke, for example, it is quite common to see people wondering why this happened and why they had such an accident. The truth is that you don’t have to be an expert to understand the risk of certain illnesses or to take care of your body better. Today we are going to talk about what stroke is like to prevent accidents of this type.
What is stroke?
Acronym for stroke, stroke (also known as stroke) is one of the most deadly diseases that we know, being the second that kills the most in the world and having a relatively low rate of total recovery, that is, the possibility of sequelae is very tall. It occurs when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures or when there is a disruption or a drastic reduction in blood supply to the brain. When this occurs, the nutrients necessary for the brain to function are not taken there, causing several serious complications to occur.
Stroke types
There are two types of stroke. The difference between them is basically in the way the disease occurs. This can affect the severity of the disease, even though both types pose real dangers to life. They are:
- Ischemic stroke
- Hemorrhagic stroke
We will talk more deeply about the main differences between the two and how it can affect the patient.
Ischemic stroke
It occurs when several brain cells die due to an obstruction in some artery . This lack of blood circulation in the region is called ischemia. This type of stroke usually occurs because of a clot that forms in the artery or travels through the bloodstream until it reaches the brain.
Hemorrhagic stroke
It happens when there is a rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, causing blood to be leaked into that organ. Such leakage can occur only on the surface or enter, making the clinical picture even more complicated. Despite being more rare than ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke is more lethal , that is, the cases of death related to it are greater.
What are the symptoms of a stroke?
A stroke has very obvious symptoms and happens relatively slowly. Knowing exactly how these symptoms occur helps the person who is having them to be taken to the hospital immediately, thus avoiding the worst consequences that a stroke can bring. Some of the main symptoms of the disease are:
- Vision loss
- Sudden changes in motor coordination
- Difficulty speaking
- Paralysis of one side of the body
- Weakness and difficulty in moving
- Loss of feeling on one side of the body
- Difficulty moving your face
- Tingling sensation in the face or limbs
- Dizziness
- Difficulty swallowing
Causes of stroke
Although there are two types of strokes, they are directly linked to unhealthy lifestyle habits most of the time. It is extremely important to know what makes a person develop this type of disease in order to understand exactly how to prevent it. Some of the most common causes are:
- Arterial hypertension
- Acute myocardial infarction
- Cardiac arrhythmia
- Excessive use of alcohol
- Excessive use of tobacco
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Thrombi in the bloodstream
- Type 2 diabetes
Other causes for strokes are: drug use, excessive consumption of fatty foods, obesity, old age and family history.
Stroke treatment
Stroke treatment is usually done in an emergency, since when this type of disease occurs, it is very quick and practically impossible to avoid. The first thing to do when a team rescues a patient with this type of accident is to check vital signs and the time she has been out of care since the onset of symptoms. After that, some exams are done, such as tomography, magnetic resonance and echocardiogram to check the functioning of the body as a whole.
A medical team can clear the interrupted arteries through medication, although this is only possible in specific cases where the symptoms of the stroke have appeared in the last 4 hours only. If the case does not fit these specifics, the team will have to deal with the problems manually, which is always more dangerous, but which can clear the patient’s arteries.
If the stroke has occurred and there is no evidence of a thrombus in the arteries, treatment is done directly to deal with the consequences, avoid possible bad sequelae, and also prevent other types of damage.
Possible Consequences
As we said before, stroke is one of the most lethal diseases in the world, and it can also leave many sequels in those who had it. As some of the main consequences we can mention:
- Neglect – When a person is unable to control a part (or parts) of his body. There is treatment, but it is delicate and difficult to do.
- Memory Deficit – Loss of the person’s ability to remember recent events.
- Aphasia – Difficulty of the patient to express himself either through speech or through gestures.
- Motor Deficit – The difficulty or inability to move any part of the body. It is something that happens with a certain frequency due to stroke and requires a long physiotherapy treatment.
- Changes in the face – The person may have a very different face, having a drooping eye, a side of the mouth also drooping (giving the impression of a crooked mouth), in addition to also having vision and hearing problems.
The treatments for the various sequelae that the stroke brings can vary from physical therapies, cognitive stimulation and even psychological treatments, since the patient may also be depressed due to the great changes that occur.
Stroke, as you may have noticed, is something very dangerous and comes without being noticed many times. That is exactly why it is necessary to strive to obtain as much information as possible about how to take care of ourselves, before we have to direct all these efforts to deal with the consequences of a stroke, for example. The prevention is always the most important part , since, basically, it means taking care of their own health. Prevent yourself not only against stroke, but also against all kinds of ailments that you can avoid by taking healthier attitudes and paying special attention to your body.
See also: Embolism – What it is, Causes and Symptoms
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
