Stroke Symptoms | Why It Happens And How You Can Prevent It

Stroke Symptoms
Why It Happens And How You Can Prevent It

How do you know if you have a stroke symptoms? A stroke is also known as a brain attack. It happens when an artery that supplies blood to the brain becomes blocked by a blood clot.

The part of the brain that is deprived of blood and oxygen is damaged and causes symptoms depending upon the area of the brain that is affected. A stroke patient may lose the ability to speak, if the speech center of the brain is damaged, or lose the ability to move a leg or arm if another area of the brain is affected.

Brain damage from a stroke can be permanent or temporary, sometimes recovery is partial. The sooner treatment for a stroke begins, the greater the chance for a complete recovery since the longer the brain is deprived of blood, the greater the risk of permanent damage.

Strokes are a common consequence of cardiovascular disease and many strokes can be prevented by making the proper lifestyle choices. Blood vessel damage that leads to the development of clots and strokes can happen due to an unhealthy diet, smoking, or poor management of other medical conditions like hypertension.

The symptoms of a stroke can strike suddenly and emergency medical care should be sought immediately. Some of the symptoms you might have are a sudden weakness on one side of your body or numbness in your face, arm or leg, sudden dimness in vision of one eye, difficulty speaking, severe headache that comes on suddenly, dizziness, falling, and unsteady while walking.

These same symptoms can also occur with a condition called transient ischemic attack, or TIA. A TIA is basically a mini-stroke and should not be taken lightly even if the symptoms clear up on their own in a few minutes. People who have TIAs are at a greater risk of having a stroke at some point. Certain other medical conditions significantly increase your risk of having a stroke so these need to be monitored and treated appropriately as well. These include carotid artery disease, and atherosclerosis.

Treatment for stroke involves administering medications or undergoing surgery to improve blood flow to the affected area. Rehabilitation is also important as many times the brain can be trained to relearn the skills that were impacted by the damage. Recovery depends upon how soon treatment began and how much damage the brain sustained as well as the part of the brain that was damaged.

By leading a healthy lifestyle that promotes cardiovascular health, you may be able to reduce your risk of having a stroke. Some of the steps you can take include not smoking or drinking alcohol, controlling high blood pressure and high cholesterol, managing diabetes, eating a heart healthy diet, getting plenty of regular exercise, and talking to your doctor about daily low dose aspirin to prevent the formation of clots.