Related topics: patients , brain , blood flow
Stroke
hideA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function(s) due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia (lack of blood supply) caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage. As a result, the affected area of the brain is unable to function, leading to inability to move one or more limbs on one side of the body, inability to understand or formulate speech, or inability to see one side of the visual field. In the past, stroke was referred to as cerebrovascular accident or CVA, but the term "stroke" is now preferred.[citation needed]
A stroke is a medical emergency and can cause permanent neurological damage, complications, and death. It is the leading cause of adult disability in the United States and Europe. In the UK, it is the second most common cause of death, the first being heart attacks and third being cancer. It is the number two cause of death worldwide and may soon become the leading cause of death worldwide. Risk factors for stroke include advanced age, hypertension (high blood pressure), previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), diabetes, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking and atrial fibrillation. High blood pressure is the most important modifiable risk factor of stroke.
The traditional definition of stroke, devised by the World Health Organization in the 1970s, is a "neurological deficit of cerebrovascular cause that persists beyond 24 hours or is interrupted by death within 24 hours". This definition was supposed to reflect the reversibility of tissue damage and was devised for the purpose, with the time frame of 24 hours being chosen arbitrarily. The 24-hour limit divides stroke from transient ischemic attack, which is a related syndrome of stroke symptoms that resolve completely within 24 hours. With the availability of treatments that, when given early, can reduce stroke severity, many now prefer alternative concepts, such as brain attack and acute ischemic cerebrovascular syndrome (modeled after heart attack and acute coronary syndrome respectively), that reflect the urgency of stroke symptoms and the need to act swiftly.
A stroke is occasionally treated with thrombolysis ("clot buster"), but usually with supportive care (speech and language therapy, physiotherapy and occupational therapy) in a "stroke unit" and secondary prevention with antiplatelet drugs (aspirin and often dipyridamole), blood pressure control, statins, and in selected patients with carotid endarterectomy and anticoagulation.
For more information about Stroke, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with stroke
Finding the Achilles' heel of cancer
Dec 10, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
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A never-approved drug developed to prevent the death of nerve cells after a stroke can efficiently kill cancer cells while keeping normal cells healthy and intact, an international team led by a Tel Aviv University ...
Fat around the middle increases the risk of dementia
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Women who store fat on their waist in middle age are more than twice as likely to develop dementia when they get older, reveals a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy.
Ecstasy may be linked to sleep apnea
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 02, 2009 |
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New research shows that recreational users of the drug known as ecstasy may be at a higher risk for sleep apnea. The study is published in the December 2, 2009, online issue of Neurology.
Robotic Devices Providing Home-Care Rehabilitation (w/ Video)
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of researchers, at Northeastern University, have developed several portable robotic devices to aid in the rehabilitation process of stroke victims. These devices are small enough for ...
New understanding about mechanism for cell death after stroke leads to possible therapy
Nov 22, 2009 |
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Scientists at the Brain Research Centre, a partnership of the University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine and Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, have uncovered new information about the mechanism by which ...
Americans born in the South may have a higher risk of dying from stroke as adults
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 30, 2009 |
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The "stroke belt" has a tight hold. People born in the Southern stroke belt have a higher risk of dying from stroke as adults, even if they later move away, compared to people who were born in other parts of the country. ...
Death from childhood stroke
Dec 01, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Stroke is an important cause of childhood morbidity and is in the top ten causes of childhood death. For the first time, new research has looked at trends in death from childhood stroke in ...
Preventing repeat strokes -- are survivors taking their medicine?
Dec 01, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
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Since 1999, stroke survivors have been advised to use aspirin, prescription antiplatelet agents, or prescription anticoagulants to help avoid another stroke. Many large surveys of the U.S. population have reported the use ...
Moderate-to-heavy exercise may reduce risk of stroke for men
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 23, 2009 |
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Men who regularly take part in moderate-to-heavy intensity exercise such as jogging, tennis or swimming may be less likely to have a stroke than people who get no exercise or only light exercise, such as walking, golfing, ...
Under a cloud -- darkness linked to 'brain drain' in depressed people
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Jul 28, 2009 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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A lack of sunlight is associated with reduced cognitive function among depressed people. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Environmental Health used weather data from NASA satellites to measure sunlig ...
Evidence appears to show how and where frontal lobe works
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Mar 02, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (10) |
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(Physorg.com) -- A Brown University study of stroke victims has produced evidence that the frontal lobe of the human brain controls decision-making along a continuum from abstract to concrete, from front to ...
Migraine raises risk of most common form of stroke
Nov 16, 2009 |
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Pooling results from 21 studies, involving 622,381 men and women, researchers at Johns Hopkins have affirmed that migraine headaches are associated with more than twofold higher chances of the most common kind of stroke: ...
Increased stroke risk from birth control pills
Medicine & Health / Medications
Oct 26, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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She was only 30 years old, but she was experiencing the classic symptoms of a stroke. Her speech suddenly became slurred, and her left hand became clumsy while eating.
Dentists can help to identify patients at risk of a heart attack
Nov 25, 2009 |
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Dentists can help to identify patients who are in danger of dying of a heart attack or stroke, reveals a new study from the Sahlgrenska Academy. Thanks to the study, six men who thought they were completely healthy were able ...
Exposure to several common infections over time may be associated with risk of stroke
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Nov 09, 2009 |
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Cumulative exposure to five common infection-causing pathogens may be associated with an increased risk of stroke, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the January 2010 print issue of Archives of ...
