Strokes

Nicole Rockwood
11/18/15

Having a stroke may seem like something that is not likely to happen to us, and its not
something that we need to worry about. However, when a stroke hits it can take a deadly toll
that will impact an individuals life, as well as the lives of their loved ones. There is a lot of
research that has been conducted, and that will continue to be conducted, to try and help find out
as much information as possible about strokes. The more the world knows about them, the better
it will be for future generations. Human bodies are fascinating and very complex. The cells
inside our bodies are working to ensure that everything functions as normal. Sometimes,
however, mistakes can happen, and there are other organisms that are fighting to threaten our
well-being. When these threats overtake us, or a mistake happens, it can take a great toll on our
bodies. One of the deadly results of this biological fight could become a stroke. Strokes are a
complicated medical emergency, they have many causes, symptoms, and the search for a cure to
prevent them, and to cure them after an attack, still continues to be sought after.
According to the book Strokes the official definition of a stroke is, a cerebrovascular
accident (CVA), is the severe reduction or cessation of blood flow to the brain resulting in a
variety of serious and often permanent impairments depending on the area of the brain affected.
A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a temporary, brief loss of blood to the brain, accompanied by
temporary impairment of vision, numbness, or other symptoms, it may herald a stroke (Berry,
2014). They may affect several parts of the body, and not specifically target just one area. As
mentioned above one of the major organs affected is the brain. When the brain loses its blood
flow, it causes many problems throughout the body. Examples of some of the other systems and
organs that can be affected are the central nervous system, blood vessels, heart, head, and the
circulatory system. The seriousness of the stroke, and the time lapse between the attack and
when a person receives medical attention, will all affect the number of systems that are damaged,
and the extent of the damage that is incurred.
Many people believe that strokes happen to elderly people. While this can be true, there
are many different causes that can lead to someone having a stroke. According to this same
article it mentions many different physical and medical causes such as hypertension, diabetes,
smoking, obesity, physical inactivity, age, high cholesterol, and many others (Berry, 2014).
These can increase the risk of a person having a stroke at some point in their life. Reducing your
risk of having a stroke is one of the many reasons why you should be concerned about taking
care of your body, and taking preventative measures to be as healthy as you possibly can. It can
be observed that many of the causes of a stroke are things that a person can control and try to
prevent, by taking care of themselves. This includes things such as smoking, obesity, and
physical inactivity. For example, obesity most likely occurs through poor eating habits and lack
of sufficient physical activity. Being obese can increase the chances of a person having a stroke.
This, in turn, is something that a person can try and control by themselves, by changing their bad
habits and taking care of their body so as to prevent serious medical problems. However, not
every single factor causing a stroke is something that a person can control. Age is one of these
examples. As humans we cannot control our age. Age comes and goes as the days go by and
sadly the likelihood of having a stroke increases, as a person grows older. This is why it is
important to take care of our bodies throughout our whole lives, so as to increase the capabilities
of our bodies to be able to fight against threats that come to compromise our well-being in the
future.
Various symptoms can be a warning signal that a person could be experiencing an attack
from a stroke. One of the most well-known symptoms that someone is having a stroke is pain on
one side of the body or losing bodily functions to a specific part of the body, which could include

a numbing sensation. It could appear as if part of the body, for example one side of the face
could start to droop down or relax an unusual and unnatural amount. According to this same
article, there are many different symptoms that could take place indicating that a stroke might be
occurring. Some of these symptoms are vision impairment, numbness, aphasia, slurred speech,
relaxed facial muscles, general muscle weakness, dizziness, confusion, stupor. Other results
could include speech disorders, losing the ability to speak, unsteadiness, sudden falls, or
headaches. A coma is possible, but less commonly involved in the case of a stroke victim (Berry,
2014). If a person starts to show any, or many of these symptoms it would be important to seek
out help as quickly as possible. The longer that a person is left having a stroke, without
receiving the needed attention, the more likely it is that serious damage will occur. Symptoms
and signs are meant to be warnings to us. They occur to help us identify when something is out
of place, and not functioning correctly, so that we might receive the medical attention that we
need in a timely fashion.
Research has been conducted, and will continue to be sought after, in order to help find a
way to prevent a stroke from occurring. There is an article in the New Scientist which helps
show that our body naturally tries to prevent injuries or sicknesses from happening. The article
is called Brain Cells Protect Themselves Against Stroke. In short, it mentions how our brain
naturally uses its resources to be able to protect themselves from having a stroke. One part that I
particularly find interesting is that Jack Mellor at the University of Bristol, UK, conducted an
experiment using rats hippocampi, which is a component of the brain. It reads, Jack Mellor...
exposed slices of rats hippocampi to the low-oxygen conditions typical of a stroke. Neurons in
the hippocampi known to resist stroke damage acted differently from a population of vulnerable
cells: they removed receptors for the neurotransmitter glutamate from their cell surface, reducing
their sensitivity to the chemical. Glutamate floods the brain during a stroke (de Lange, 2011).
Therefore, our brain cells are working hard to make sure that it helps prevent any extra damage
to the brain by reducing the sensitivity to the chemical. This is a fascinating principle, and it is a
good reason why an important part of stroke prevention is taking care of our bodies. If we
maintain good physical, and especially good brain health, we will be able to prevent a lot of
future problems. The research conducted in this experiment cannot guarantee that it will help in
eventually finding a cure to strokes, but it is a good stepping stone in the process of us
understanding the nature of these circumstances.
Once a stroke has occurred it is very important to obtain help as quickly as possible so as to
reduce the chances of receiving serious, permanent, damage. There are various resources that are
most commonly used today in order to treat stroke patients. Some of these include
edarterectomy, which is a way to revascularise the carotid arteries by scraping out plaque,
balloon angioplasty which is inflating a balloon catheter in the diseased area to open up a small
segment of occlusion, drugs, and physical therapy (Berry, 2014). However, there might be a new
drug that is able to help cure victims after a stroke has taken place. In the New Scientist an
article was written called New Drug Offers Bigger Window to Treat Stroke that can offer more
information in detail. It discusses a drug known as the PSD-95 inhibitor that has been tested on
both monkeys and humans that has shown a significant positive outcome in reducing, or curing
stroke symptoms. This is however dependent on the amount of time that elapses before a person
receives treatment. This drug showed to help cure symptoms if it is given to the stroke victim
within three hours of when they start to have their attack. The article states, Monkeys treated
with the PSD-95 inhibitor one hour after stroke had 55 per cent less damaged tissue in the brain

after 24 hours and 70 per cent less after 30 days, compared with those that took a placebo. These
animals also did better in behavioral tests. Importantly, the drug was also effective three hours
after stroke. An early stage clinical trial in humans, run by firm NoNO in Ontario has also seen
positive results (New Drug Offers Bigger Window to Treat Stroke, 2012). This is a great hope
and improvement for a person who has suffered a stroke to know that there is a drug that can
help them repair the damaged tissue they have obtained in the brain. A drug like this could make
a huge difference in the lives of the people, because without help, a stroke victim could have
resulting complications such as paralysis, loss of speech or movement, memory loss, and many
more. Physical therapy might be able to help people regain some of these functions back, but it
is not guaranteed. The new discoveries might make the biggest difference in some stroke victims
lives.
While strokes have many causes, symptoms, and complications, its encouraging to know
that research in science, and in medicine, are helping create a prevention and what hopefully
becomes a complete cure of the stroke. Strokes are deadly, scary, and life-altering complications.
Its important for people to take care of themselves, and change any habits that might lead them
to becoming more prone to having a stroke, and to seek out help as soon as possible when any
symptoms are spotted. Hopefully the leaps in discoveries of stroke prevention and healing will
continue until the world has discovered how to cure these deadly attacks.

Works Cited

Berry, Silvia M., MSc, RVT, Wilson, Bradley R. A., PhD, Fallon, L. Fleming Jr.,
MD, PhD, MPH. (2014, January). Strokes. Magill's Medical Guide.

De Lange, Catherine. (2011, August 20). Brain Cells Protect Themselves

Against Stroke. New Scientist.

New Drug Offers Bigger Window to Treat Stroke. (2012, March 3). New
Scientist(Issue 2854).