Stroke facts
Learn about this common cardiovascular condition and what causes it.
MY grandfather was in the bathroom when he fell down. Luckily, the bathroom door wasn’t locked. We rushed in and took him to hospital. Apparently, according to the doctor in the emergency department, he had a stroke. What is a stroke?
A stroke is what some people call a “brain attack”.
It happens when the blood circulation to our brain, or certain sections of our brain, is stopped, interrupted or reduced.
As a result, the cells in that area of your brain can die from the lack of oxygen and nutrient flow.
There are two types of stroke: ischaemic and haemorrhagic.
The ischaemic type is caused by blockage of blood to the brain.
The haemorrhagic type is caused by the bleeding of a blood vessel into the brain, resulting in the formation of a blood collection that subsequently presses against your brain cells.
The haemorrhagic stroke is more dangerous as the brain is encased by the hard skull, and there is nowhere for the brain tissues to move if the blood collection becomes too large.
Ischaemic strokes form 80% of all strokes.
How will I know if I am about to get a stroke?
Sometimes, you will have warning signs. At other times, you won’t. Look out for:
Sudden numbness or weakness of your face, arm or leg, especially if this occurs on one side of your body. This is a sign that the major blood vessel carrying blood from your body into your brain on the other side of your neck might be blocked. The right side of your brain services the left side of your body, and vice versa. Sudden confusion. Sudden trouble talking or understanding someone else’s speech.
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes. This is because the part of your brain servicing your eyes might be affected.
Sudden trouble walking, or experiencing sudden loss of your balance or coordination. The part of your brain servicing this might be affected.
Sudden severe headache. This might be due to a haemorrhagic stroke where the bleeding in your brain is becoming more severe and pressing against your brain tissue.
Sudden onset of double vision.
Sometimes, these warning signs may only last for a few minutes and then disappear. This is called a transient ischaemic attack or TIA. Some people also call them mini- strokes.
How do the blood vessels in my brain get blocked?
A clot can form within a blood vessel in your brain or neck. This is called thrombosis.
The clot is called the thrombus and it can build up, gradually becoming larger and larger, and occluding your blood flow.
This forms the same basis as a heart attack, only it occurs in the vessels of your brain.
Next, a thrombus can break off and travel to another part of your body. This is called an embolus. For example, the thrombus can form in your heart, then break off and go up to your neck to occlude the vessel flowing to your brain.
Another way to block a vessel is through severe narrowing of an artery in, or leading to, your brain. This is called stenosis.
If there is bleeding, this causes a haemorrhagic stroke.
I’m scared! My parents both had strokes. How can I prevent a stroke from happening to me?
First, you have to understand the risk factors for a stroke. Look out for these:
Age – the older you are, the higher the risk. But strokes can also happen in childhood, especially in the first few weeks of a newborn’s life.
Male – if you are a man, you are at higher risk of getting a stroke. But more women die from a stroke.
Race – More Africans have strokes.
Family history – if you have had a family member with a stroke, your risk is higher. This is because some families have a genetic predisposition for high blood pressure or diabetes, or even a certain life- style ( like smoking).
High blood pressure – this is the worst risk factor for stroke. If you have high blood pressure or hypertension, your stroke risk increases as much as two to four times.
Smoking – this increases your risk of ischaemic stroke by two times and haemorrhagic stroke by four times.
Heart disease – coronary artery disease or valve disease may cause clots to break off and become emboli. Heart disease can also cause an irregular heart rhythm.
Having a TIA in the past. Diabetes. High LDL cholesterol Physical inactivity Obesity. You can’t do anything about your age, gender, race or family history.
But you can certainly treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes if you have it. You can certainly stop smoking. You can start exercising and cutting down on your food intake.
And if you have heart disease, there are drugs that you can take to prevent clots from forming.
Dr YLM graduated as a medical doc- tor, and has been writing for many years on various subjects such as medicine, health, computers and entertainment. For further information, e- mail starhealth@ thestar. com. my. the information contained in this column is for general educational purposes only. Neither the Star nor the author gives any warranty on accuracy, completeness, functionality, usefulness or other assurances as to such information. the Star and the author disclaim all responsibility for any losses, damage to property or personal injury suffered directly or indirectly from reliance on such information.