By Ernst Lamothe, Jr.
Stroke prevention is crucial because strokes can cause significant disability and even death.
Sometimes referred to as a brain attack, stroke occurs when the blood vessel that carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain is either blocked by a clot, bursts or ruptures.
When that happens, part of the brain doesn’t receive the blood and oxygen it needs, so brain cells die.
One in six deaths from cardiovascular diseases are due to stroke and every 40 seconds someone in the United States has a stroke, according to the Centers for Disease and Prevention.
“One out of four strokes are recurrent strokes and therefore totally preventable,” said physician Julius Gene Latorre, medical director of Upstate’s Comprehensive Stroke Center. “Combining several preventive strategies to reduce risk of first or recurrent stroke are additive, and sometimes synergistic, cutting the risk by as much as 80%.”
By managing risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, individuals can reduce their chances of experiencing a stroke.
Latorre discusses five things you need to know about strokes.
1 — Know the symptoms
Common symptoms of a stroke include sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or legs, especially on one side of the body. In addition, there is confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech, vision problems, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination and severe headaches. Strokes are often compared to heart attacks due to their potential for serious and life-threatening consequences. Understanding causes of strokes is slightly complicated considering how it differs by gender, age and ethnicity.
“Less common symptoms include sudden dizziness, sudden blindness, sudden loss of consciousness or sudden severe headache,” said Latorre. “Symptoms may resolve within minutes to hours, but you have to go to the emergency room regardless, because it can recur and become permanent.”
2 — Deficits linked to where the stroke occurs in the brain
Having a stroke means that the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted or reduced, leading to damage to brain cells. This can result in various neurological deficits depending on the location and severity of the stroke.
“When someone suffers a stroke, a part of the brain dies resulting in loss of function related to that part of the brain,” said Latorre. “Different parts of the brain serve different neurological functions such as the left side usually controls speech and language along with motor movement of the right side of the body. The right side controls the body’s awareness of the whole environment, along with motor movement of the left side of the body. The back part called cerebellum controls the balance and the brainstem connects the whole brain to the rest of the body.”
3 — There are ways to reverse the effect of stroke
Some misconceptions about stroke include the belief that it only affects the elderly, when in fact, it occurs at various ages. “Stroke can happen at any age even in children,” said Latorre. “Some people think that having a stroke is an accident and you can’t do anything about it. If identified early, stroke can be cured completely and we have a lot of acute treatments that can be done to completely reverse the effect of stroke. However, you have to come to the hospital right away.”
4 — It runs in the family
Family history can play a role in stroke risk as genetics can influence certain risk factors such as high blood pressure and heart disease.
“Some causes of strokes run in the family. A number of risk factors for stroke such as diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis run in the family as well,” said Latorre.
5 — Fatigue, daytime sleepiness, depression may arise
“A stroke is similar to a heart attack and is sometimes called a brain attack,” said Latorre. “In heart attacks, an artery supplying the heart gets blocked and patients experience chest pain or tightness. In brain attack or stroke, an artery supplying the brain gets blocked and patients experience loss of brain function in that region causing neurologic symptoms.”
After stroke, some patients may develop several problems including generalized fatigue, daytime sleepiness, depression and limitation of mobility leading to reduced quality of life. It is important to work closely with your physician to address these issues.