How does a Stroke look like?
What to do when someone you know has a Stroke? What is FAST?
I´m referring to a Brain Stroke - to be precise a Cerebrovascular Attack.
Stroke is the second leading cause of death globally and a leading cause of long-term disability.
What is a Stroke?
I will briefly explain in a simple way what a Stroke is. Brain is a high maintainence organ of our Body. It requires more energy compared to all the other organs in the body.
As it requires more energy - it has a very well developed and complex blood supply too. Blood is distributed to the Brain from 2 main Systems arising from the Heart. Anterior(front) and Posterior(back) circulation on both the sides.
These two systems form a circle in the Brain - called the Circle of Willis.
It is designed so perfectly that even if one side of the Circulation is shut, the other sides can compensate for the decreased blood supply to the Brain.
I can go on describing the technical terms... I will write more about it in upcoming posts with a lot of Case studies too. But lets get it straight…
- How does a Stroke looks like?
- What to do when someone gets these symptoms?
- Is there a time window to save the Brian?
- Can we reverse the Symptoms?
- and more...
As we already saw in the previous articles Brain is a very complex organ - each part of the brain controls different function of our Body.
A Stroke is a sudden loss of function in
- loss of complete movement on one side of the body
- feeling powerless or decreased power on one side of the body
- it can be just an arm, or just a leg
- loss of nasolabial folds or Smile lines
- complete loss of Speech
- unable to articulate Speech
- unable to find words
- Dizziness with nausea and Vomiting
- Sudden loss of vision
- loss of Vision on one side of the eye
- complete neglect of one side
- loss of sensation
Usually its a mix of some of these Symptoms or just a single one of these.. These are just some of the manifestations of how a Stroke looks like.
The Patients may sometime fall down on one side and may even have other wounds, but we should never ignore the reason for the Fall.
A Stroke may not kill a Patient immediately - but if not treated in a Proper time window - can lead to a long term Paralysis or loss of function.
This is what an Ischemic Stroke looks like - that is when brain doesnt get enough oxygen because of blockage or decreased blood supply.
There is another type of Stroke - Haemorrhagic Stroke. This is caused when a blood vessel in Brain bursts! Yes, it happens too.. for example in uncontrolled Blood Pressure.
In this case the Stroke looks similar to Ischemic Stroke but with increasing severity in Symptoms along with severe Headache - its as nasty as it sounds..
Another important Variant is TIA - a Transient Ischemic Attack - It is a self limiting - temporary Condition where the symptoms get better varying from seconds upto 24 hrs. This mini-stroke is a warning sign of a possible future stroke and should be taken seriously.
Ischemic Stroke is the most common variety - 80-85% of Strokes
What to do??
The FAST acronym can help people recognize the signs of a stroke: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call emergency services.
First of all when you see someone with Stroke symptoms - Take the Patient immediately to a Hospital with CT/MRI facility.
In case of Ischemic Stroke - there is widely accepted Time Window of upto 4.5 hrs. In this time frame if you can take the Patient to a Hopsital with a Neurology department.
This is the time frame where YOU CAN SAVE THE BRAIN TISSUE FROM DYING. So you should hurry up and take the Patient immediately to a hospital - so that she receives a Brain scan - CT/MRI to rule out Brain damage.
In case of a Bleeding - The doctors will try and stop bleeding using medicines and if the bleeding is too big - it might require a Decompression Surgery to relieve the Brain of increasing pressure caused by bleeding.
As we saw earlier - A TIA might be a temporary attack for just some seconds - for example a Patient cannot speak properly, wasnt able to move her arm for 30 seconds. But regains all the function back. In this case too... the Patient should be immediately transeffered to a Hospital.
These attacks may be because of an underlying cause - like a Arrhythmia or a bleeding disorder.
Can you Prevent a Stroke?
Approximately 80% of strokes are preventable by managing risk factors such as high blood pressure, smoking, and physical inactivity.
Some stroke risk factors, such as age and family history, cannot be changed, but others, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, can be managed with lifestyle changes and medication.
SO NEVER IGNORE ANY SYMPTOMS OR EVEN A SMALL SUSPISION OF A STROKE....! You might save a Person from lifelong Suffering or even death.