A stroke happens when one or more blood vessels in the brain breaks down and then bleeds, or in case of blocking of blood supply to our brain. The blockage or rupture stops the oxygen and blood from reaching the tissues of our brain. With lack of oxygen, brain tissues and cells become damaged and start dying within few minutes.

Causes

Whenever there is loss in flow of blood to the brain, it damages the tissues inside the brain. Symptoms of stroke show in those parts of the body that are controlled by the damaged brain areas. The sooner care is provided to the individual with stroke, the better and faster recovery is likely to happen to the individual.

Hence, it is better to understand the signs of stroke so that one can act fast. The symptoms of stroke are – paralysis, feeling weak or numb in the arm, face, leg, and especially in one side of the body. It also comes with trouble in speaking or understanding speech, confusion, slurring speech, problems in vision, such as seeing with one or two eyes blackened out or having double vision, trouble in walking, loos in coordination or balance, dizziness, or sudden and severe headache without any known cause.

In case of a stroke, immediate medical care would be required. If prompt key treatment isn’t administered, it could lead to serious consequences like – brain damage, disability for a long-term, and ultimately death. While dealing with stroke, it is better to be safe and seek immediate medical attention.

Symptoms

In women

In United States of America, stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in women, where they suffer higher death risk and lifetime risk of being attacked by it than men. Stroke signs more common in women include vomiting or nausea, hallucination, pain, general weakness, trouble in breathing or shortness in breath, losing consciousness or fainting, seizures, confusion, disorientation, or even lack of responsiveness, high rate of agitation or sudden behavioural changes.

Women are more likely to die because of stroke than men, hence, it is important that they are able to identify the medical conditions as soon as can be possible.

In men

This condition is the fifth main cause leading to death in men. Men are more prone to get attacked by strokes when they are young than women, however, the death rate is less likely. Though both men and women can have the same symptoms of stroke, some symptoms are more predominant in men than women and occur more often in former. These are – drooping on a side of the person’s face or wearing an uneven smile, speech slurred, finding it difficult to speak, also finding it hard to understand someone else’s speech, muscle or arm weakness on one side of the individual’s body.

Types

There are mainly three categories under which strokes can be categorized – transient ischemic attack, hemorrhagic stroke, and ischemic stroke. These three prime categories are further broken into other kinds of strokes, like – embrolic stroke, thrombotic stroke, intracerebral stroke, subarachnoid stroke.

Suresh Hospital’s Treatment for Stroke

The kind of treatment that would be provided to the individual depends upon the kind of stroke. In TIA stroke, since the stroke happens due to temporary blockage in the artery that goes to the brain, the treatment should happen immediately. This is because TIA actually lasts between few minutes to a few hours, and if treated immediately, the patient can be cured.

In case of ischemic stroke, the blockage of the artery goes to the brain and attacks normal human function. In this condition, the blockage could be blood clot, or caused due to atherosclerosis. Under this condition, fatty substances build up on blood vessel walls. A piece of this plaque could break off and then enter in an artery, blocking blood flow and leading to ischemic stroke. Doctors suggest immediate surgery under such conditions.

A haemorrhage stroke is caused due to leaking or burst blood vessels, where they seep into or surrounding the tissues in the brain, causing damage and pressure in the brain cells. Patients with this type of stroke are usually given medications followed by surgery.