Tuesday, May 8, 2018

🎗️National Stroke Awareness Month

May Is National Stroke Awareness Month
A stroke is a medical emergency caused by either a blood clot blocking a blood vessel in the brain or a broken blood vessel bleeding into the brain, states MedlinePlus. Strokes involving blockage are called ischemic, and strokes caused by bleeding are called hemorrhagic. Transient ischemic attacks are caused by brief interruptions of blood supply to the brain.

Symptoms of a stroke include numbness especially on one side of the body, difficulty seeing or speaking, confusion, headache and loss of coordination, reports WebMD. Symptoms may occur suddenly or gradually over the span of a few hours. Symptoms may vary depending on the severity of the stroke and the area of the brain where the stroke occurs.
Persons experiencing a stroke should receive medical attention as soon as possible, advises medlinePlus. Cells in the brain will begin to die without the supply of oxygen carried by blood, potentially causing permanent damage or death. Treatment for strokes may involve dissolving the blood clot or attempting to stop the bleeding.
People are more likely to have a stroke if they are older, male or have a family history of strokes, according to the Stroke Foundation. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and obesity also increase the risk of stroke.
What are the causes of a stroke?


The causes of a stroke include either a blood clot in a blood vessel, most likely an artery, that blocks blood flow in the brain, or a blood vessel rupturing in the brain and causing a hemorrhage, according to WebMD. The most common type of stroke is the one from a clot. Though only about 20 percent of all strokes are hemorrhagic, they are the most dangerous kind.
In the case of stroke caused by clots, blocked blood flow causes the brain to be starved of nutrients and oxygen. With a hemorrhagic stroke, the very act of rupturing can flood the brain tissue with blood and damage it, states WebMD.
Several factors can put a person at risk for a stroke, according to WebMD. The biggest risk for a stroke is hypertension, which exerts pressure against the walls of a blood vessel and eventually weakens it. Other risk factors are atherosclerosis, which lays plaque along the walls of arteries and can cause them to dangerously narrow.
Other risk factors for stroke include cardiovascular disease and high cholesterol levels, says WebMD. Smoking also puts a person at risk for stroke because it starves the blood of oxygen. This makes the heart work harder and can worsen conditions such as atherosclerosis. Diabetes, obesity, heavy alcohol use and certain drugs can also put a person at higher risk for stroke.


What are Causes of a massive stroke?
 

The causes of a massive stroke include a blood clot lodged in an artery in the brain, a blood clot that forms somewhere else in the body and travels to the brain, and the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, according to Mayo Clinic.
How massive the stroke is depends on how long the brain was deprived of oxygen, according to Mayo Clinic.
Strokes caused by blood clots are ischemic strokes, claims Mayo Clinic. A blood clot that originates in the brain is called a thrombus, while a blood clot that travels from a distant site in the body is called an embolus. Plaque buildup in arteries and other arterial conditions can cause clots that lead to stroke.
The rupture of blood a vessel in the brain is called a hemorrhagic stroke, says Mayo Clinic. There are several types. Intracerebral hemorrhage happens when a blood vessel within the brain bursts. This damages brain cells directly and causes other cells to be starved of oxygen. Subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs when an artery that is on or near the surface of the brain ruptures. The blood then floods the area between the brain and the skull. This type of stroke is often caused when an aneurysm, a weakened, distended area in an artery wall, bursts.
What causes a mini stroke to occur?
 
A mini stroke can be caused by a blood clot in an artery of the brain or a blood clot that travels to the brain from the body, explains the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Other causes include blood vessel injury and narrowing of a blood vessel in the b
A mini stroke is a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, and is a warning sign of an impending stroke, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Risk factors include hypertension, atrial fibrillation, diabetes and a family history of stroke. Other risk factors include increasing age, smoking, race and high cholesterol. A mini stroke does not cause permanent damage to the brain. It occurs suddenly and symptoms resolve within a few minutes to a couple of hours.
A mini stroke can cause sudden weakness, numbness and paralysis in the face, arm or leg, explains Mayo Clinic. Other symptoms include slurred or garbled speech, difficulty understanding others, dizziness, loss of balance, and blindness in one or both eyes. One in three people experience a real stroke within a year of a mini stroke. The treatment approach is aimed at stroke prevention and involves the use of anti-platelet drugs, anticoagulants, surgery or angioplasty.
What are some common side effects of a mini stroke?
Some of the long-term side effects of a mini stroke, also called a transient ischemic attack, are permanent neurological damage and an increased chance of having a full-blown stroke, states Everyday Health.Patients often fail to notice these strokes and do not seek medical help until it is too late.
Mini strokes happen when a blood clot temporarily blocks the flow of blood to the brain, notes Healthline. These strokes often do not kill any brain tissue, and the side effects and symptoms of them are only temporary, lasting only a couple of minutes or a couple of hours.
During a mini stroke, patients often feel weakness on a single side of the body, also known as hemiparesis, states Healthline. This weakness often occurs in a single side of the face and an arm and a leg on the same side. Sometimes side effects of a mini stroke lead to a decrease in coordination, but other times it leads to the inability to move.
Sometimes mini stroke sufferers experience dysphasia, which is the inability to speak or understand words, notes Healthline. Patients may also have temporary blindness in a single eye, which is called transient monocular blindness. This condition can also lead patients to feel extreme aggravation when exposed to bright lights.
 
What is a hemorrhagic stroke?

A hemorrhagic stroke is bleeding inside or around the brain caused by a damaged blood vessel, states Drugs.com. An intracerebral hemorrhage is the most common form, and it occurs when a blood vessel inside the brain ruptures or a weak, abnormal vessel starts to leak. 
A subarachnoid hemorrhage causes blood to pool at the brain's surface and flood the subarachnoid space, the area between the brain and the skull, according to Drugs.com. The mixture of blood and cerebrospinal fluid places harmful pressure on the brain, increasing the risk of triggering arterial spasms and permanently damaging brain tissue. A subarachnoid hemorrhage is caused by a leaking aneurysm or arteriovenous malformation.

Stroke prevention lifestyle

Stroke prevention requires a two-pronged approach. One aspect of stroke prevention is based on modifiable lifestyle habits. And the other aspect of stroke prevention is focused on resolutely pursuing the best health care throughout your life.
A stroke prevention lifestyle is about maintaining consistent habits that fight stroke every single day. These stroke prevention habits apply to just about everyone, and they do require a bit of deliberate planning.
In addition to preventing stroke, these actions contribute to your ability to live an energetic and enjoyable day-to-day life.

Healthy Eating
Healthy eating can be challenging for two major reasons. The first is that most of us don't intuitively know what a truly healthy diet includes. Between some reports that vilify real fats and sugars and other reports that equally malign their artificial substitutes, it is tough to figure out a fast and easy rule of thumb that outlines what healthy eating really is. Fortunately, some consistent guidelines are finally emerging to help define the healthy and nutritious foods that prevent stroke.
Antioxidants, abundant in fresh produce, nuts, and fish, are key to fighting stroke. Trans fats, a type of fat that contributes to stroke, is becoming easier to identify in the food you buy. And nutrients such as protein have also been associated with stroke prevention.
The other challenge when it comes to healthy eating is that it is tough to consistently stick to a beneficial cuisine while avoiding harmful ingredients. These shopping and cooking tips can help you make a nutritious stroke-fighting diet a simpler and more consistent part of your life.
Exercise
Stroke prevention exercise does not have to be on par with competitive physical training. Overall, even modest exercise has been proven to help protect against stroke. When it comes to exercise, getting started is one tough step, while staying consistent is even more difficult. The best way to ensure that you will start to exercise and continue to exercise is to choose physical activities that are enjoyable for you. You probably don’t realize it, but at least a few different types of activities that you like to do "count" as exercise.
 
Maintaining a moderate weight
Obesity is a risk factor for stroke. Weight loss is never an easy task. And the sooner you reach a desirable weight, the less the weight will affect your health for the long term. Diet and exercise are the cornerstones of maintaining a fit weight. And when those methods do not work, weight loss surgery has been shown to reduce the risk of obesity-associated death, specifically by preventing from stroke.
While obesity increases your chances of having a stroke, being underweightis also a stroke danger. Being underweight increases the chances of stroke death. Therefore, it is important to maintain moderation in weight goals, rather than extremes.
Don't smoke
Smoking is one of the most aggressive causes of stroke. Almost all smokers agree that it is extremely difficult to quit smoking. Yet, there have been so many different methods that are indeed effective when it comes to smoking cessation. Between self-prescribed schedules to accountability partners to prescription smoking cessation aids, many smokers have been able to permanently cut the smoking habit, which is a powerful way of preventing stroke.
 
 
Moderation in alcohol
Alcohol has been known to damage a number of our body systems. And medical studies show that heavy alcohol consumption is associated with stroke. Drinking alcohol occasionally and in sensible amounts has not been linked to stroke. Widely cited research suggests that red wine may be linked with a decreased risk of stroke. While red wine might contain some components that are safe or even helpful in preventing stroke, the evidence is not strong enough for you to start drinking red wine solely to prevent stroke.
 
 
Recreational drugs have been linked with stroke. Cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, and even herbal versions of Viagra have all been associated with stroke. Most recreational drugs are highly addictive, so avoiding drugs is the best way to avoid addiction and to avoid drug-induced strokes. don't use drugs.
 
 
Prioritizing your peace of mind
Your peace of mind is tough to measure. But that has not stopped scientists from measuring how emotional aggravation affects stroke.
 
 
Reasearch more about all the different ways, causes, symptoms, and preventions of strokes. There's more to learn, you would be surprised.
 
 
 
Blogger: Egypt A. Assanti
ESD Baroness
{aka} Big Sister Southern Heat🎗️
 

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