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Rehabilitation After Stroke: What Can Be Done?
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When Muscles Won't Relax: Understanding Post-Stroke Spasticity
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State-of-the-Art Treatments for Post-Stroke Spasticity
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Treating Post-Stroke Spasticity: What Your Doctor Needs to Know
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Stroke Recovery: The Basics of Physical Rehabilitation
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Life After Stroke: Personal Perspectives
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TIA: A Warning Not to be Ignored
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Are You at Risk for a Stroke?
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What are the Warning Signs of a Stroke?
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Helping a Loved One Recover From a Stroke
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Caregiver Involvement in Post-Stroke Care
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Definition
A stroke, also called a cerebral vascular accident (CVA), is the sudden death of cells in a specific area of the braindue to inadequate blood flow.
Description
A stroke occurs when blood flow is interrupted to a part of the brain, either when an artery bursts or becomes closed when a blood clot lodges in it. Blood circulation to the area of the brain served by that artery stops at the point of disturbance, and the brain tissue beyond that is damaged or dies. (Brain cells need blood to supply oxygen and nutrients and to remove waste products.) Depending on the region of the brain affected, a stroke can cause paralysis, loss of vision, speech impairment, memory loss and reasoning ability, coma, or death. The effects of a stroke are determined by how much damage occurs, and which portion of the brain is affected.
About a third of all strokes are preceded by transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), or mini-strokes, that temporarily interrupt blood flow to the brain. While TIAs cause similar symptoms (such as sudden vision loss or temporary weakness in a limb), they abate much more quickly than full-fledged strokes, usually within a few hours— sometimes as quickly as a few minutes.
Stroke is a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment. Prompt treatment improves the chances of survival and increases the degree of recovery that may be expected. A person who may have suffered a stroke should be seen in a hospital emergency room without delay. Treatment to break up a blood clot, the major cause of stroke, must begin within three hours of the stroke to be most effective. Improved medical treatment of all types of stroke has resulted in a dramatic decline in death rates in recent decades. In 1950 nine in ten stroke victims died, compared to slightly less than one in three today.
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Author Info: Laith Farid Gulli M.D., Bilal Nasser M.D., The Gale Group Inc., Gale, Detroit, Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders, 2003 |
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