The brain is an extremely complex organ that controls various body functions. If a stroke occurs and blood flow can't reach the region that controls a particular body function, that part of the body won't work as it should.
Strokes are to your brain what a heart attack is to your heart. When you have a stroke, part of your brain loses its blood supply, which keeps that brain area from getting oxygen. Without oxygen, the affected brain cells become oxygen-starved and stop working properly.
Usually, a left hemisphere stroke will cause motor impairments on the right side of the body; while a right hemisphere stroke will likely impair the left side of the body. When stroke impacts both hemispheres, it's possible to sustain motor impairments on both sides of the body.
High blood pressure is the leading cause of stroke and is the main cause for increased risk of stroke among people with diabetes.
Left-hemispheric ischemic strokes appear to be more frequent and often have a worse outcome than their right-hemispheric counterparts. The incidence of large-vessel ischemic strokes is higher in the left middle cerebral artery distribution, contributing to these hemispheric differences.
Peripheral organ injury and dysfunction are very common after stroke, which usually occur within one week after stroke, so measures need to be taken to prevent and treat them in time. The most common complications after stroke include pulmonary infection, heart failure, acute renal injury and gastrointestinal bleeding.
When brain cells die, brain function is lost. You may not be able to do things that are controlled by that part of the brain. For example, a stroke may affect your ability to move, speak, eat, think and remember, control your bowel and bladder, control your emotions and control other vital body functions.
Strokes can cause weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, and can result in problems with co-ordination and balance. Many people also experience extreme tiredness (fatigue) in the first few weeks after a stroke, and may also have difficulty sleeping, making them even more tired.
How Does a Stroke Impact Life Expectancy? Despite the likelihood of making a full recovery, life expectancy after stroke incidents can decrease. Unfortunately, researchers have observed a wide range of life expectancy changes in stroke patients, but the average reduction in lifespan is nine and a half years.
Because walking is such an important element of day-to-day functioning, recovering functionality in the leg is the central priority for recovering from a stroke. The arm, though, can be left to do little to nothing for the remainder of the survivor's life.
Recovery time after a stroke is different for everyone—it can take weeks, months, or even years. Some people recover fully, but others have long-term or lifelong disabilities.
Even after surviving a stroke, you're not out of the woods, since having one makes it a lot more likely that you'll have another. In fact, of the 795,000 Americans who will have a first stroke this year, 23 percent will suffer a second stroke.
There are undeniable links between heart disease, stroke and stress. Stress can cause the heart to work harder, increase blood pressure, and increase sugar and fat levels in the blood. These things, in turn, can increase the risk of clots forming and travelling to the heart or brain, causing a heart attack or stroke.
Acute ischaemic stroke triggers a cascade of events—including local and systemic activation of the immune system—which results in a number of systemic consequences and, ultimately, may cause organ failure.
A hemorrhagic stroke happens when an artery in the brain leaks blood or ruptures (breaks open). The leaked blood puts too much pressure on brain cells, which damages them.
Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, numbness or tingling several days before they have a serious stroke. One study found that 43% of stroke patients experienced mini-stroke symptoms up to a week before they had a major stroke.
Right Brain
If the stroke occurs in the right side of the brain, the left side of the body will be affected, producing some or all of the following: Paralysis on the left side of the body.
After six months, improvements are possible but will be much slower. Most stroke patients reach a relatively steady state at this point. For some, this means a full recovery. Others will have ongoing impairments, also called chronic stroke disease.
Sleep is critical, but sleep problems may follow after a stroke. Poor sleep can slow your recovery and lead to depression, memory problems and night-time falls. The good news is there are ways to improve your sleep.
Ischaemic strokes can often be treated using injections of a medicine called alteplase, which dissolves blood clots and restores blood flow to the brain. This use of "clot-busting" medicine is known as thrombolysis.
“We found that a stroke reduced a patient's life expectancy by five and a half years on average, compared with the general population,” Dr Peng said.
The most rapid recovery usually occurs during the first three to four months after a stroke, but some survivors continue to recover well into the first and second year after their stroke. Some signs point to physical therapy.
The initial recovery following stroke is most likely due to decreased swelling of brain tissue, removal of toxins from the brain, and improvement in the circulation of blood in the brain. Cells damaged, but not beyond repair, will begin to heal and function more normally.