Posted: June 15th, 2022

Strokes are a medical emergency that can cause serious symptoms, lasting disability and possibly even death. Strokes happen when blood flow to the brain is interrupted. This is usually caused by blood vessels to the brain becoming clogged or narrowed by plaque. There are three main types of strokes.

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Strokes are a medical emergency that can cause serious symptoms, lasting disability and possibly even death. Strokes happen when blood flow to the brain is interrupted. This is usually caused by blood vessels to the brain becoming clogged or narrowed by plaque. There are three main types of strokes. Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), Ischemic Stroke and Hemorrhagic Stroke. Strokes are the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S.
Transient Ischemic attack, or TIA are like a warning sign to a bigger stroke, or it could be a “mini stroke”. TIA’s are anything that momentarily stops blood flow to your brain. The TIA symptoms only last for a few minutes. 12% of strokes have early warning signs from a TIA. If you in fact, do have a TIA, your doctor may want to prescribe you antiplatelet or anticoagulant medications. Antiplatelets are Aspirin and Plavix. These drugs make it so platelets in your blood wont stick together and form a clot. Anticoagulants are used to hopefully reduce the buildup of clotting proteins. These medications are called Warfarin, Coumadin, Pradaxa.
Ischemic strokes are due to lack of blood flow to the brain. 87% of strokes are Ischemic, and High Blood pressure is the leading risk factor for this. There are two types of Ischemic strokes- Cerebral Thrombosis and Cerebral Embolism. A Cerebral Thrombosis is caused by a blood clot that’s in an artery going to the brain. Blood flow to the brain is then blocked by the clot. This usually happens from arteries that were damaged by plaque. In Cerebral Embolisms, a clot is formed elsewhere in the body, usually the heart or neck arteries. These block a blood vessel heading to the brain. One of the main causes is Atrial fibrillation. Treatment for Ischemic strokes needs to be as soon as possible after the stroke so that blood flow can be restored to the part of the brain that was infected. They do have a medication that can be used to break up the clot, it’s called Alteplase. The only downside is that this medication needs to be given within 3-4.5 hours after symptoms start. They also do a procedure called mechanical thrombectomy for people who have clots too large in arteries to be dissolved by Alteplase. This procedure needs to be done within 24 hours after a stroke for best results. With this procedure, doctors thread a catheter with a stent through an artery in your groin, and then it goes up to the blocked artery in the brain and grabs the clot.
The third type of stroke is Hemorrhagic, this is when blood vessels rupture near or in the brain. This means that blood collects in the brain tissue and that is very bad for your brain tissue, it causes the tissue to weaken and die. This type of stroke is life threatening. There are two types of Hemorrhagic strokes, Intracerebral hemorrhages and Subarachnoid Hemorrhages. Intracerebral Hemorrhages are blood vessels that rupture deep in the brain and are normally caused by a consistently high blood pressure. This is the most common Hemorrhagic stroke. Subarachnoid Hemorrhages happen when an aneurysm ruptures on or near the surface of the brain. This causes blood to pool in the space between the skull and brain. Treatment for Hemorrhagic strokes is detrimental to the patient, and they will need emergent hospital care. Some treatments are blood pressure medications and medications to reduce brain swelling. Sometimes people need surgery to place a metal clip at the bottom of an Aneurysm or surgery to get rid of bad blood vessels. There is also a surgery where they use a catheter and that goes through a major artery that’s in your arm or leg. The advance the catheter to find the aneurysm and place a coil so it doesn’t rupture.
There are warning signs that you and your family should watch out for. You could have all or just some of the signs. Make sure when symptoms start, try to make note of the time and call 911. Stroke warning signs are sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, leg and on one side of the body. A person could have trouble talking, like jumbled speech and sudden confusion. Their eyesight might be blurred on one or both sides. Walking might be difficult with dizziness and loss of balance, and you could have a sudden severe headache, without a cause. The American stroke association says that one good way to recognize a stroke is F.A.S.T. Facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty and time to call 911. Calling 911 as soon as possible and getting the person to the hospital gives them the best chance to come out of having a stroke without any deficits or having mild ones.
It’s estimated that approximately 1/3 of people who have a TIA, will have an Ischemic stroke within the next year. Another estimate is that 1/4 of people who have a stroke, could possibly have another within 5 years. Once you’ve had a stroke, your risk of having another one increases right after having the stroke but decreases over time. Also, your chance of having a severe disability or death increases after each stroke you have. There are ways that you can improve or change your lifestyle to reduce the risks of strokes or having another stroke. Adding more physical activity to your life would be a good start. Keeping yourself at a healthy weight and eating healthy to stay at that weight for your age. You should limit alcohol intake, no more than 2 drinks a day for men and 1 drink a day for women. Stay away from illegal drugs. Cut down or stop smoking completely. If you have sleep apnea, using your mask will help your heart so it doesn’t have to work so hard.
My takeaway from learning about Strokes is that time is of the essence when it comes to stroke symptoms. They are no joke and could be life threatening if not treated in time. I also like the word F.A.S.T. and remembering Facial drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty and Time to call 911. About 3 years ago, my dad had a stroke. He was sitting at home watching the news and started to feel funny. His right arm went numb, his speech became all garbled. I remember him calling me, told me he felt “weird” and said some other things that didn’t make sense. I immediately called my mom who rushed home and called 911. It was scary. He was in the hospital for 3-4 days. He was diagnosed with an Ischemic Stroke, took a few days for his speech to go back to normal but it finally did. They said it was his high blood pressure that caused it which he has had since high school but had increased over time. When he was in the hospital the first night it was 200 over 120 or close to that. It was crazy!

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