Brain stroke is one of the leading causes of disability in our country. Also, urban areas have more cases of death than rural area due to stroke. It is a medical emergency that needs quick treatment to save a life. Otherwise, it results in brain cells, tissue damage, and permanent disability.
What is a Brain Stroke?
In a brain stroke blood vessels of the brain get ruptured. After rupturing the vessel starts bleeding and disrupts the proper blood supply in the brain. This disruption or blockage prevents oxygenated blood from reaching the tissues.
Types of Brain Stroke:
- Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA): TIA occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked temporarily. The symptoms are similar to a full stroke but disappear after a few hours. A TIA is a warning sign of Ischemic stroke.
- Ischemic Stroke: The arteries get narrow or blocked that resulting in severely reduced blood flow. And a reduced blood flow or blood clot is the cause for ischemic stroke. There are two types of blockages in ischemic stroke. One is cerebral thrombosis (fatty plaque within a vessel) and another is cerebral embolism (blood clot in another part of the body).
- Haemorrhagic Stroke: A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a vessel breaks or leaks the blood. It creates excess pressure in the skull and swells the brain which ends up damaging tissues and cells. There are two types of hemorrhagic stroke. One type is intracerebral (tissues surrounding the brain fill with blood) and another is subarachnoid (bleeding in the area between the brain and covered tissues) hemorrhagic stroke.
Early Signs of Brain Stroke:
Brain Stroke may happen slowly but there are some early signs you can predict risk.
- Confusion or trouble in understanding people.
- Trouble in watching with one or both eyes
- Difficulty in speaking
- Weakness especially on one side (in face, arm, or leg)
- Dizziness
- Severe headache
- The problem in body balance or walking
Symptoms of Brain Stroke:
The brain controls our body. And symptoms of stroke can be found in the body part that is controlled by damaged brain parts. The sooner you understand the symptoms and provide medical treatment, the better improvement you can find.
The symptoms include
- Paralysis or numbness in arms, face, or legs: After stroke one may develop numbness, weakness, or paralysis. One side of the body cannot be raised. Also, one side of mouth may droop.
- Trouble in Speaking: One may experience confusion while speaking or difficulty in speech.
- Trouble while walking: Sudden dizziness will loss of stability or body balance. Therefore, one may feel trouble walking when a stroke happens.
- Headache: If you are experiencing headaches, unaltered consciousness along with vomiting, and dizziness indicate you are having a stroke.
Risk factors of Brain Stroke:
Some lifestyle, as well as medical conditions, can increase the risk of stroke.
Lifestyle-related risk factors:
- Overweight
- Excessive Drinking
- Intake drug and smoking
- Physical Inactivity
A medical condition related risk factors:
- High Blood Pressure
- Diabetes
- High cholesterol
- Cardiovascular disease
- Family history of stroke
- Covid-19 infection
Some other factors include aging, hormonal imbalance and sex (men have a higher risk of stroke than women) are in risk.
Prevention of Brain Stroke:
One can prevent the risk of stroke after knowing and managing the risk factors. An expert recommendation and good lifestyle changes are important for preventing a stroke. Here read and know some healthy lifestyle changes that include:
- Controlling High Blood Pressure means controlling many diseases. Take doctor’s advice, intake medicines and follow a healthy lifestyle.
- Manage your diabetes and keep your blood sugar in the healthy range. To control diabetes one can take medicines as per doctor recommendations.
- Eat less cholesterol or fats because cholesterol can build up in arteries, and block the way of blood flow. Therefore, one may have a risk of stroke.
- Quit the use of tobacco anyway
- Maintain a healthy weight and be physically active
- Exercise regularly for good blood flow and healthy vessels and heart.
- Avoid intake illegal drugs
- Treat your obstructive sleep apnea
