What is a stroke?
A stroke is a sudden interruption of blood supply to a part of the brain as a result of obstruction or bleeding. The absence of blood - therefore oxygen - quickly leads to irreversible damage to brain tissue, thus affecting essential faculties such as movement, sight, memory, and reasoning.
There are two main types of stroke
An ischemic stroke
(85% of cases)
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This occurs when a clot blocks the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain. Clots usually form in areas where arteries have narrowed or become blocked over time by the build-up of fatty plaques, a process called atherosclerosis. Besides age, the main risk factors are diabetes, smoking, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity.
A hemorrhagic stroke
(15% of cases)
​
This occurs when a blood vessel bursts inside the skull, bleeds, and compresses the brain. The main cause of a hemorrhagic stroke is high blood pressure. The main risk factors are being overweight, excessive alcohol consumption, and smoking
The statistics
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1 stroke every 40 seconds in the US
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2nd cause of death worldwide
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1 in 5 people will have a stroke during their lifetime
While it mainly affects people over 65 years of age, 25% of strokes are among younger people. Furthermore, in recent years the number of strokes affecting young people has increased significantly.
Time is Brain
When a stroke occurs, the patient loses 2 million neurons every minute. Significant progress has been made in recent years with treatments such as thrombolysis and, more recently, thrombectomies. The latter technique doubles the chances of avoiding serious sequelae after an ischemic stroke related to the obstruction of a large artery. But to be effective, these medical interventions must be carried out as quickly as possible.
Here is a very poignant illustration that we owe to the UK’s National Health Service:
How can you spot a stroke?
A stroke is basically a brain attack; it is the equivalent to a heart attack except the affected organ is the brain and not the heart. But the brain is much more complex than the heart and the symptoms of a stroke are directly related to the area of the brain that is affected and can thus vary greatly from one victim to another. In addition, the patient does not generally feel pain, and too often those around them do not realize that this is a life-threatening emergency.
There are, nevertheless, three typical symptoms that should immediately make you think of a stroke (these signs are the most common; they are present in 50 to 60% of cases. For the other cases, our digital neurologist will provide even more valuable help.)
The mouth droops
One side of the body becomes weak (arm or leg)
Speech becomes difficult
Should one of these three signs appear suddenly, contact the
EMERGENCY SERVICES IMMEDIATELY!
