What Is A Stroke

You should be aware of what a stroke is so that if you or anyone around you is at risk of this condition, you will be aware of the importance of acting quickly when someone is having a stroke or has had a stroke recently so that the person may seek immediate help from medical personnel.

A stroke is a serious condition that requires immediate care because treatment can help to reduce the serious effects if the treatment is started soon enough. This medical condition can cause a sudden onset of symptoms. This sudden onset is caused by either a blockage of blood flow or a hemorrhage in a portion of the brain or a blockage of blood to the entire brain.

Ischemic

The Ischemic stroke (80%) is caused from a constriction in one of the brain's blood vessels caused by a hardened artery that is clogged with a blood clot. Arteriosclerosis is the medical condition in which plaque builds up in the arteries and makes the passageways of the blood vessels cramped from the build up.

Both the thrombotic and the embolic stroke are ischemic strokes. During the ischemic stroke, the blood is not able to reach the area of the constriction. A thrombotic stroke is caused by a blood clot in an artery leading to the brain and an embolic stroke is caused by a blood clot that moves to the brain from another place in the body.

The Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) is called the mini stroke because the blood circulation to the brain is only temporarily blocked. The symptom or symptoms may only last a few minutes or they may last for hours and sometime, a person may ignore the warning signs because they do not recognize the symptoms of a stroke.

Hemorrhagic

The Hemorrhagic stroke (20%)means that an artery has burst in the brain and that bleeding is occurring in the brain tissue and this bleeding kills brain cells. The uncontrolled bleeding may occur between the skull and the brain, in which case, it is a subarachnoid hemorrhage or the bleeding may be deeper into the brain tissues which is called a intracerebral hemorrhage.

The reasons that can cause the rupture the of arterial wall includes a bulge site caused by high blood pressure or injury (aneurysm) or a birth defect in the formation of the blood vessel in the brain (arteriovenous malformation AVM) which can weaken a wall of a blood vessel.

Persons with some medical conditions or because of a hereditary disorder may have a higher risk than other groups of having a stroke. It is important that you become familiar with the it and its warning signs because the sooner you recognize the symptoms because the sooner that treatment can be started, the better.