It is the start of the New Year and I want to begin by wishing all the readers of my blog a very happy and healthy New Year 2013. May you all be blessed with not only a healthy brain but also a healthy mind!.
I decided that my first post in the New Year 2013 should be on strokes and more importantly on how to recognize a stroke in a timely fashion and how to prevent it. After all a stroke prevented is a brain saved.
So let us begin without delay. Keeping things simple the best way to describe a stroke is to compare it to a heart attack. A heart attack occurs when one of the main arteries of the heart suddenly gets blocked. The sudden lack of blood flow leads to ischemia of the heart (basically the part of the heart supplied by that blood vessel does not get blood/oxygen and if the blocked artery is not opened/ recanalized in time irreversible death of cardiac muscle/tissue occurs). Something similar happens during a stroke and hence sometimes strokes are referred to as brain attacks. A blood vessel in the brain either gets blocked (ischemic stroke) or ruptures (hemorrhagic stroke) and if not opened in time the part of the brain supplied by that blood vessel perishes. The signs and symptoms of the stroke depend upon which part of the brain is involved.
Warning signs of a stroke:
1. Sudden onset of weakness in the arm and leg on one side of the body (for example abrupt onset of motor weakness in the right arm and leg usually indicates ischemia/lack of blood flow or hemorrhage involving the left side of the brain). That said strokes may be more subtle or unusual in their presentation–weakness in only one arm or one leg, weakness in one arm and contralateral face and so forth.
2. Sudden onset of numbness (loss of sensation but no marked weakness) on one side of the body. Again presentation may be more unusual–abrupt onset of numbness one side of face or just in one arm.
3. Sudden onset of vision problems–double vision or loss of vision in one eye or loss of vision in one half/part of visual field.
4. Sudden onset of difficulty walking or balance–unable to walk in a straight line, dizziness (not all dizziness is stroke though).
5. Sudden onset of speech difficulty–either unable to speak (words are mumbled, not clear, language difficulty), unable to comprehend speech.
6. Sudden onset of complete loss of hearing in one ear (rare form of stroke).
7. Sudden onset of a combination of the above symptoms-usually this is the case.
One of the major problems with stroke is that frequently the symptoms and signs are very subtle and may be ignored by the patient and his family/friends. By the time the patient seeks medical attention, the stroke is already completed (remember when it comes to stroke–TIME IS BRAIN) and the damage is already done. In the case of a heart attack the signs are hard to ignore–sudden onset of squeezing chest pain along with sweating and a sinking sensation. Patients are forced to go to the hospital and seek attention. On the other hand the brain is far more quieter when it suffers a brain attack–no pain, no sweating just quiet suffering of the ischemia.
So what to do when you or someone close to you is suffering a stroke? The most important thing is not to delay seeking attention. You can only be helped if you reach the hospital in a timely fashion ideally within the first hour to 90 minutes of the stroke. So seek attention at once. It is better to reach the hospital and be told that you misread your symptoms and did not suffer a stroke rather than reach late when nothing can be done to help you apart from supportive care.
So let us start the New Year 2013 by preventing strokes. Remember your brain is your best friend. Protect him, nourish him, take care of him.
Nitin K Sethi, MD
Braindisease's Weblog 