What is a stroke?
A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts. Without blood and the oxygen it carries, part of the brain starts to die. The part of the body controlled by the damaged area of the brain can't work properly.
Brain damage can begin within minutes, so it is important to know the symptoms of stroke and act fast. Quick treatment can help limit damage to the brain and increase the chance of a full recovery.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of a stroke happen quickly. A stroke may cause:
* Sudden numbness, tingling, weakness, or paralysis in your face, arm, or leg, especially on only one side of your body.
* Sudden vision changes.
* Sudden trouble speaking.
* Sudden confusion or trouble understanding simple statements.
* Sudden problems with walking or balance.
* A sudden, severe headache that is different from past headaches.
If you have any of these symptoms, call911or other emergency services right away.
See your doctor if you have symptoms that seem like a stroke, even if they go away quickly. You may have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a mini-stroke. A TIA is a warning that a stroke may happen soon. Getting early treatment for a TIA can help prevent a stroke.
What causes a stroke?
There are two types of stroke:
* An ischemic stroke develops when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain. The clot may form in the blood vessel or travel from somewhere else in the blood system. About 8 out of 10 strokes are ischemic (say "iss-KEE-mick") strokes. They are the most common type of stroke in older adults.
* A hemorrhagic stroke develops when an artery in the brain leaks or bursts. This causes bleeding inside the brain or near the surface of the brain. Hemorrhagic (say "heh-muh-RAH-jick") strokes are less common but more deadly than ischemic strokes.
How is a stroke diagnosed?
You need to see a doctor right away. If a stroke is diagnosed quickly-right after symptoms start-doctors may be able to use medicines that can help you recover better.
The first thing the doctor needs to find out is what kind of stroke it is: ischemic or hemorrhagic. This is important because the medicine given to treat a stroke caused by a blood clot could be deadly if used for a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain.
To find out what kind of stroke it is, the doctor will do a type of X-ray called a CT scan of the brain, which can show if there is bleeding. The doctor may order other tests to find the location of the clot or bleeding, check for the amount of brain damage, and check for other conditions that can cause symptoms similar to a stroke.
A stroke occurs when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts. Without blood and the oxygen it carries, part of the brain starts to die. The part of the body controlled by the damaged area of the brain can't work properly.
Brain damage can begin within minutes, so it is important to know the symptoms of stroke and act fast. Quick treatment can help limit damage to the brain and increase the chance of a full recovery.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of a stroke happen quickly. A stroke may cause:
* Sudden numbness, tingling, weakness, or paralysis in your face, arm, or leg, especially on only one side of your body.
* Sudden vision changes.
* Sudden trouble speaking.
* Sudden confusion or trouble understanding simple statements.
* Sudden problems with walking or balance.
* A sudden, severe headache that is different from past headaches.
If you have any of these symptoms, call911or other emergency services right away.
See your doctor if you have symptoms that seem like a stroke, even if they go away quickly. You may have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a mini-stroke. A TIA is a warning that a stroke may happen soon. Getting early treatment for a TIA can help prevent a stroke.
What causes a stroke?
There are two types of stroke:
* An ischemic stroke develops when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain. The clot may form in the blood vessel or travel from somewhere else in the blood system. About 8 out of 10 strokes are ischemic (say "iss-KEE-mick") strokes. They are the most common type of stroke in older adults.
* A hemorrhagic stroke develops when an artery in the brain leaks or bursts. This causes bleeding inside the brain or near the surface of the brain. Hemorrhagic (say "heh-muh-RAH-jick") strokes are less common but more deadly than ischemic strokes.
How is a stroke diagnosed?
You need to see a doctor right away. If a stroke is diagnosed quickly-right after symptoms start-doctors may be able to use medicines that can help you recover better.
The first thing the doctor needs to find out is what kind of stroke it is: ischemic or hemorrhagic. This is important because the medicine given to treat a stroke caused by a blood clot could be deadly if used for a stroke caused by bleeding in the brain.
To find out what kind of stroke it is, the doctor will do a type of X-ray called a CT scan of the brain, which can show if there is bleeding. The doctor may order other tests to find the location of the clot or bleeding, check for the amount of brain damage, and check for other conditions that can cause symptoms similar to a stroke.
What Increases Your Risk
Risk factors for stroke include those you can change and those you can't change.
Certain diseases or conditions increase your risk of stroke. These include:
* High blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure is the second most important stroke risk factor after age. It is a risk factor you can change.
* Diabetes. Having diabetes doubles your risk of stroke because of the circulation problems associated with the disease.
* High cholesterol. High cholesterol can lead to hardening of your arteries (atherosclerosis). Hardening of the arteries can cause coronary artery disease and heart attack, which can damage the heart muscle and increase your risk for stroke.
* Coronary artery disease, which can lead to heart attack and stroke.
* Other heart conditions, such as atrial fibrillation, endocarditis, heart valve conditions, patent foramen ovale, or heart failure.
* Peripheral arterial disease, for example narrowing of the carotid artery (carotid artery stenosis).
Certain behaviors can increase your risk of stroke. These include:
* Smoking, including secondhand smoke.
* Physical inactivity.
* Being overweight.
* Diet with few fruits and vegetables. Research suggests that people who eat more fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains (for example, brown rice) may have a lower risk of stroke than people who eat lots of red meat, processed foods such as lunch meat, and refined grains (for example, white flour).2
* Diet with too much salt. A healthy diet includes less than 2,300 mg of sodium a day (about one teaspoon).
* Use of some medicines, such as birth control pills-especially by women who smoke or have a history of blood-clotting problems. In postmenopausal women, hormone replacement therapy has been shown to slightly increase the risk of stroke.3
* Heavy use of alcohol. People who drink alcohol excessively, especially people who binge drink, are more likely to have a stroke. Binge drinking is defined as drinking more than 5 drinks in a short period of time.
* Illegal drug use (such as a stimulant, like cocaine).
Risk factors you cannot change include:
* Age. The risk of stroke increases with age.
* Race. African Americans, Native Americans, and Alaskan Natives have a higher risk than those of other races. Compared with whites, African Americans have about 2 times the risk of a first ischemic stroke. And African-American men and women are more likely to die from stroke.4
* Gender. Stroke is more common in men than women until age 75, when more women than men have strokes. Because women live longer than men, more women than men die of stroke.4
* Family history. The risk for stroke is greater if a parent, brother, or sister has had a stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). For more information, see the topic Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA).
* History of stroke or TIA.
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