Stroke

Brain stroke or Brain Attack or simply Stroke is a medical condition of the brain where the flow of blood is suddenly stopped or any of the blood vessels in the brain gets ruptured. Due to the blockage not just blood but oxygen and other vitals also stop circulating which eventually kills the brain cells. This leads to sudden loss of functioning of the body part where the respective block is present. The stroke could lead to loss of body function, body movement, body sensation, memory and even activities like speech, eyesight/ vision, loss of muscle strength, disability and death.

TYPES OF STROKE :

1. Brain strokes are majorly of 2 types i.e Ischemic and Hemorrhagic.
2. Ischemic is a type of brain stroke which can occur due to sudden reduction of oxygen, blood and other vitals to the brain, this happens when there is a major blockage in the brain arteries also known as Atherosclerosis.
3. Hemorrhagic is a type of brain stroke where internal bleeding of the brain occurs due to bursting of the brain arteries.
4. According to statistics, 80 percent of the strokes are Ischemic and 20 percent of strokes are Hemorrhagic.

REASONS FOR A BRAIN STROKE

It is known that men who are above 40 are slightly more likely to suffer a stroke than women and the rate of brain stroke in women is more than that of breast cancer. A stroke can occur due to various reasons such as the following.

Reasons for Ischemic stroke:

• Irregular and abnormal heartbeat which is diagnosed as Atrial Fibrillation, in such a case the clot travels from neck or even heart and resides in the brain’s blood vessels. This type of ischemic stroke is known as Embolic.
• Patients suffering from diabetes or hypertension have higher chances of tiny blood vessels of their brain getting choked & blocked. This type of stroke is known as Lacunar.
• A disease known as arteriosclerosis where the arteries get hardened can also lead to clots in the brain vessels. This form of brain stroke is known as Thrombotic.

Reasons for Hemorrhagic stroke:

Aneurysms are the weakest spots of the brain’s arteries, where the blood vessel bursts and a pool of blood covers the brain. This form of hemorrhagic stroke is known as Subarachnoid.

Old age, Diabetes and hypertension to an extreme can also cause the blood vessels in the brain to weaken and burst, leading to bleeding in the brain.

SYMPTOMS OF A STROKE:

• Sudden numbness and unable to move one side of the face or hands or leg, usually happens at either side of the body.
• Sudden mental confusion, unable to understand or grasp things, unable to speak even at utmost efforts, difficulty understanding speech.
• Unable to walk straight, dizziness and improper body coordination.
• Extreme unexplainable headache.
• Loss of vision in one or both eyes.

FACTORS LEADING TO A STROKE : The primary factors leading to stroke are.

• Excessive tobacco consumption.
• Hypertension.
• High cholesterol levels.
• Diabetes mellitus.
•  Obesity.
• Ongoing/ Underlying heart disease.
• Excessive consumption of Alcohol.

WHAT TO DO IN CASE OF A STROKE?

Time is the most essential criteria in case of an ongoing stroke. 60 mins/1 Hour. The person suffering from a stroke should be taken to a hospital for medical assistance within 60 minutes, because even the medical team needs time to diagnose and treat the patient. If done so, there are maximum chances the patient will recover with almost no permanent side effects and no threat to life. 3 to 6 hours is known as the critical time for any patient ongoing with a stroke because it’s treatment is best effective in the first 3 to 6 hours as post that critical time the brain cells are damaged and dead to an irreversible stage that any form of medication would not really help at that stage.

TREATMENT FOR A BRAIN STROKE :

• There are primarily 2 major forms of medicines given to patients ongoing with a stroke i.e Actilyse and Novoseven.
• In case of ischemic stroke, Actilyse or medically known as intravenous tissue plasminogen activator is used.
• In case of an hemorrhage intravenous activated recombinant factor VII or simply Novoseven is used.
• It is to be noted that the patient is first admitted in the I.C.U and the above mentioned are primary medications used and not the only medications. Both these medications after a few hours of stroke are absolutely ineffective and the brain cells would be dead by that time.

HOW LONG WILL THE PATIENT BE HOSPITALIZED 

A patient is generally admitted in the hospital for anywhere between 4 to 6 days after a stroke. There are chances the duration might be prolonged if the patient develops any form of infections or the patient might require advanced therapies for muscle, vision or speech improvement.

POST RECOVERY PRECAUTIONS 

After the patient is discharged and sent home, the doctor would prescribe majorly anticoagulants for a decent period of time hence the blood pressure, and blood sugar levels and prothrombin time (PT/INR) are to be routinely monitored. Along with that, cholesterol lowering medicines, Aspirin, medicines to control blood sugar and hypertension could also be prescribed.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE FOR THE PATIENT TO COMPLETELY RECOVER 

• The complete recovery time of the patient is not a fixed as The time varies from patient to patient depending upon their age, severity of the stroke, type of stroke, type of treatment and the time of treatment once the stroke occurred and the side effects of the stroke if any.
• In cases where a young patient has been given timely medical assistance and has had a mild stroke of ischemic category, he/ she may recover fully in a few days.
• In cases where older patients suffer a stroke or hemorrhage and have received last moment treatment, they might require anywhere between a few weeks to months to recover as there are high chances they might need routine therapy as well.