A stroke is a disorder of the circulation of the brain that occurs acutely when a part of the brain does not receive blood and therefore fails. It can occur either because a vessel is occluded and blood stops flowing or because a vessel ruptures and blood flows out of it, resulting in a lack of cerebral irrigation.
It can occur at any age, although the older a person is, the higher the possibility of suffering from it will be. On the other hand, although there has always been a higher incidence in men than in women, due to changes in lifestyles, the incidence is becoming more and more equal in both sexes.
Symptoms of stroke
Stroke can have multiple symptoms, but the main ones to detect it are three:
- Deviation of the corner of the mouth
- Difficulty in expressing oneself
- Anesthesia or clumsiness of half of the body.
The combination of two of these symptoms, especially if they appear abruptly, may mean that the person is suffering a stroke. This is the main reason to detect it and go to an emergency department.
Other symptoms may be gait instability or double vision, but those mentioned above are the most important when it comes to detecting it.
How to act in the event of a stroke
At present, treatment in the acute phase is very important, that is to say, at the moment it occurs, since there are treatments available that can open the vessel in the case of an ischemic stroke (due to a lack of irrigation).
Therefore, the first thing to do when it is detected is to go to the emergency room, since the problem is that these treatments are only effective in the first few hours, and the sooner they are done, the less time the brain will suffer and the better the result will be. It should be taken into account that the brain can suffer an irreversible ischemia in one minute, so the sooner it is opened, the more of it will remain functioning.
Stroke treatment
There are two main types of treatment:
- Intravenous thrombolysis: this consists of injecting a thrombolytic substance intravenously. This substance is a very powerful anticoagulant that acts by opening the vessels.
- Intra-arterial thrombolysis: this can be done within the first six hours. It consists of catheterization, reaching the occluded area and, by means of special devices, extracting the clot in order to restore normal circulation.
How to prevent a stroke
There are drugs that can prevent a stroke when it has already occurred, such as painkillers or anticoagulants, and on the other hand there are healthy lifestyle habits:
- Controlling hypertension, diabetes and cholesterol.
- Do not smoke or take drugs
- Avoid stress
- Eat a healthy and balanced diet to avoid hyperlipemia (excess of lipids in the blood).
Thus, the main recommendation is that people take care of themselves, maintain healthy habits, which is the main thing, since prevention is better than cure.
On the other hand, if you are unlucky enough to have a stroke, it is important to be vigilant. In the same way that when one’s chest hurts one rushes to the hospital without hesitation, a person who has difficulty speaking, a deviation of the mouth or a clumsiness to handle half of the body, has to do the same. The sooner Neurology specialists act in the treatment of a stroke, the better the chances of recovering the damaged part.
After-effects of stroke
It should be borne in mind that stroke is the main cause of disability in the general population. As mentioned above, the sooner a stroke can be treated, the less chance of disability there will be. Of course, there are strokes that, because of their severity, leave sequelae and leave the patient incapacitated depending on the degree to which the brain is damaged, while there are others that, because they are treated early or because they have not been so extensive, do not leave incapacity.