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What is Stroke? A
stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain
is suddenly interrupted or when a blood vessel in the brain
bursts, spilling blood into the spaces surrounding brain
cells. Brain cells die when they no longer receive oxygen
and nutrients from the blood or there is sudden bleeding
into or around the brain. The symptoms of a stroke include
sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the
body; sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding
speech; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden
trouble with walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination;
or sudden severe headache with no known cause. There are
two forms of stroke: ischemic - blockage of a blood
vessel supplying the brain, and hemorrhagic - bleeding
into or around the brain.
Is
there any treatment?
Generally there are three
treatment stages for stroke: prevention, therapy immediately
after the stroke, and post-stroke rehabilitation. Therapies
to prevent a first or recurrent stroke are based on treating
an individual's underlying risk factors for stroke, such
as hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes. Acute
stroke therapies try to stop a stroke while it is happening
by quickly dissolving the blood clot causing an ischemic
stroke or by stopping the bleeding of a hemorrhagic stroke.
Post-stroke rehabilitation helps individuals overcome disabilities
that result from stroke damage. Medication or drug therapy
is the most common treatment for stroke. The most popular
classes of drugs used to prevent or treat stroke are antithrombotics
(antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants) and thrombolytics.
What
is the prognosis?
Although stroke is a
disease of the brain, it can affect the entire body. A
common disability that results from stroke is complete
paralysis on one side of the body, called hemiplegia.
A related disability that is not as debilitating as paralysis
is one-sided weakness or hemiparesis. Stroke may
cause problems with thinking, awareness, attention, learning,
judgment, and memory. Stroke survivors often have problems
understanding or forming speech. A stroke can lead to emotional
problems. Stroke patients may have difficulty controlling
their emotions or may express inappropriate emotions. Many
stroke patients experience depression. Stroke survivors
may also have numbness or strange sensations. The pain
is often worse in the hands and feet and is made worse
by movement and temperature changes, especially cold temperatures.
Recurrent stroke is frequent;
about 25 percent of people who recover from their first
stroke will have another stroke within 5 years.
What
research is being done?
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
(NINDS) conducts stroke research and clinical trials at its
laboratories and clinics at the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), and through grants to major medical institutions across
the country. Currently, NINDS researchers are studying the
mechanisms of stroke risk factors and the process of brain
damage that results from stroke. Basic research has also
focused on the genetics of stroke and stroke risk factors.
Scientists are working to develop new and better ways to
help the brain repair itself to restore important functions. New
advances in imaging and rehabilitation have shown that the
brain can compensate for function lost as a result of stroke.
To read the rest of this article, and more about stroke from
the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
(NINDS), please click here: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/stroke/stroke.htm
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