What Is a Stroke, and How Can We Treat It?

You may have heard of someone “having a stroke.”  But what exactly does that mean?

Someone in the United States suffers a stroke every 40 seconds. That’s 800,000 people a year.  Strokes are the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.  Strokes are far too common, and it’s important to know what they are, how to recognize the symptoms, and what kinds of treatments and therapies are available to those who experience a stroke.

What is stroke?

One way to think of a stroke is a “brain attack” (instead of a heart attack).   A stroke happens when a blockage causes blood flow to be cut off from the brain. When this happens, your brain cells don’t get enough oxygen and begin to die.  That damage to your brain and its cells can lead to a range of problems from memory problems and loss of muscle control. This is why stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in the United States.

There are several different types of stroke, including hemorrhagic stroke, ischemic stroke and TIA.  What they all have in common is the loss of blood to part of your brain.

What causes a stroke?

A stroke can happen to anyone at any time. There are multiple causes of strokes, including high blood pressure, tobacco use, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, lack of physical activity, age and genetics.  Strokes can run in families.

Men are slightly more likely to suffer a stroke than women, and strokes affect African Americans and non-white Hispanic Americans more than any other group in the United States.

Some medications can also increase your risk of stroke. Medicines like blood-thinners, hormone therapy for menopause and low-dose birth control pills are three examples of drugs that can increase your risk of a stroke.

What are the signs and symptoms of a stroke?

A stroke can develop either rapidly or gradually, however, if you are having a stroke, you will likely first notice warning signs that come on suddenly. These can include weakness or numbness, confusion, dizziness or a severe headache. Other symptoms include:

  • Sudden numbness or weakness on one side of the body
  • Sudden trouble speaking or understanding
  • Sudden trouble seeing out of one or both eyes
  • Sudden trouble walking or loss of coordination

Stroke victims must seek medical care immediately. Call 9-1-1 and note the time of the first symptom. This is important information that can help professionals know how to treat the stroke victim.

Treatments for stroke

There are two phases of treatment for stroke, immediate emergency care, and rehabilitation and therapy after the crisis has passed.

Emergency Care:

In the emergency room, the physician will ask you and a family member to describe the symptoms and when they started. They will need to know what medications you are taking and any history of brain or head injury.

The doctor will check the patient’s blood pressure, and do a series of blood tests to assess how your blood is clotting. Then you will likely have a CT scan or a MRI scan. These may be combined with an ultrasound and angiogram.

Using this information, the medical team will decide on the best course of treatment to stabilize the stroke victim. This may include medications delivered directly to your brain, removal of the clot causing the blockage and placement of a stent to help keep your arteries open and your blood flowing.

Therapy and Rehabilitation

Once you (or the patient) is stabilized, you’ll be sent home, but your treatment will just be beginning.  Strokes can cause serious after effects. Many patients suffer from mental decline, depression, intense pain, tingling and numbness, memory loss, balance issues, problems with stability, and spastic muscles.

You’ll need to be treated for these problems caused by your stroke so you can continue with your life and activities.  The team at Norcal Brain Center can provide you with the very best in rehabilitative care and therapy.

How we can help

We will begin by giving you a full neurological examination.  This examination will determine which areas of your nervous system have been damaged by the stroke.  That will allow us to design an individualized treatment plan for you that will help you recover activity in the damaged areas of your nervous system and improve your quality of life.

The plan we design for you may include therapies to improve your:

  • Motor coordination- to assist in stability and balance.
  • Cognitive processing- to help with clear thinking
  • Vestibular-ocular and vestibular-spinal reflexes: to assist with balance, focus and concentration.
  • Optokinetic rehabilitation: to help with balance and dizziness
  • Cerebellar integration: to help with speech and emotional issues
  • Autonomic stability: to help stabilize heart function
  • Proprioceptive reflex: to help integrate your senses

If you or a family member has suffered a stroke we encourage you to call Norcal brain center to schedule a consultation and see how we can help you recover your health, focus, mobility and quality of life.

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