By Taylor Odenat J Band

Disease

First and foremost, what is stroke? Stroke is a disease that affects the arteries leading to and within the brain. A stroke can also be defined as a condition in which the brain cells suddenly die because of a lack of oxygen. There are two major types of strokes consisting of Hemorrhagic Stroke and Ischemic Stroke. Ischemic strokes account for 80% of all strokes while Hemorrhagic Stroke accounts for 20% of all strokes.

Ischemic stroke occurs when an artery to the brain is blocked, usually by a blood clot and a portion of the brain becomes deprived of oxygen and will stop working. Ischemic stroke can be caused by several different kinds of diseases. The most common problem is narrowing of the arteries in the neck or head. This is most often caused by atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. Other diseases include Infection of the heart valves, heart attack, heart failure.

Hemorrhagic Stroke
Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in your brain leaks or ruptures. Hemorrhagic strokes are grouped according to location of the blood vessel: --Intracerebral hemorrhage: Bleeding in the brain --Subarachnoid hemorrhage: Bleeding in the area between the brain and the thin tissues that cover the brain Symptoms of hemorrhagic stroke include: Difficulty speaking or understanding others Difficulty swallowing Difficulty writing or reading Headache

Normal Brain

Brain after Stroke

How can I prevent this disease?

Eat a healthy diet. Maintain a healthy weight. Dont Smoke. Be physically active. Limit alcohol use. Prevent or treat high cholesterol. Prevent or treat high blood pressure.

What parts of the body is affected by strokes?

Strokes occur in the brain and are caused by blood clots in the brain. Stroke can lead to lasting brain damage that can inhibit the function of any body part and may cause lack of muscle control, paralysis, changes in mood or personality and a reduction of intellectual ability. The effects of the stroke on your body depends on where the stroke occurred: BACK: The ability to see LEFT: The ability to read, write, and talk FRONT: The ability to control emotions and make decisions RIGHT: The ability to judge distances.

Who are affected by strokes?

Believe it or not, anyone can suffer from a stroke. Although many of the risk factors for stroke is put of our control, such as if strokes are hereditary in your family, but in most cases strokes are as a result of ones personal lifestyle. Stroke is more common in men than in women. In most age groups, more men than women will have a stroke in a given year. However, more than half of total stroke deaths occur in women.

What are the risk factors for getting stroke?

Over age 55
Over age 55 Diabetes Obesity and overweight Male

Male

African American, or Asian/Pacific Islander African American, Hispanic Hispanic or

Asian/Pacific Islander

Cardiovascular disease

A family history of stroke High blood High pressure blood pressure

High cholesterol High cholesterol

A previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) High levels of homocysteine (an amino acid in blood) Birth control use or other hormone therapy

A family history of stroke

Smoking cigarettes

Smoking cigarettes

Cocaine use

Treating Ischemic Stroke

Treatment for an ischemic stroke or TIA may include medicines and medical procedures. A medicine called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) can break up blood clots in the arteries of the brain. A doctor will inject tPA into a vein in your arm. This medicine must be given within 4 hours of the start of symptoms to work. Researchers are testing other treatments for ischemic stroke, such as intraarterial thrombolysis (throm-BOL-ih-sis) and mechanical clot (embolus) removal in cerebral ischemia (MERCI).

To treat a hemorrhagic stroke you must first find the cause of bleeding in the brain and then control it. If high blood pressure is the cause of bleeding in the brain, your doctor may prescribe medicines to lower your blood pressure. This can help prevent further bleeding. Surgery also may be needed to treat a hemorrhagic stroke. The types of surgery used include aneurysm clipping, coil embolization (EMbol-ih-ZA-shun), and arteriovenous malformation (AVM) repair.

How many Americans are affected by stroke?

In the United States, approximately 795,000 strokes occur each year. Strokes are a leading cause of long-lasting injury, disability, and death. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Stroke death rates are higher for African-Americans than for whites, even at younger ages. On average, someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds.

Current Events on Stroke

Stroke Prevention Device Misses Key Goal in Study
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: March 9, 2013 This article is about research being done on a heart device that is directed at preventing people with irregular heartbeats from getting strokes. Early results from a key study of the device found that this device may not be better than a drug that is used to prevent strokes, heart-related deaths and blood clots in people with atrial fibrillation in the long term.