Stroke – Risk Factors and Symptoms
Suffering a stroke is one of the most devastating medical emergencies that can happen to a person. Strokes can be classified into two main types: ischaemic and haemorrhagic. Ischaemic strokes occur when a blood clot blocks a vessel in the brain and can frequently lead to severe disability or even death. Haemorrhagic strokes occur when a blood vessel in the brain bursts or ruptures.1 For example, patients with an irregular heart beat (known as atrial fibrillation) are at increased risk of stroke. The upper chambers of the heart, the atria, do not contract properly, causing a disorder of the heart’s pumping function. As a consequence, the blood isn’t completely pumped from the atria into the main heart chambers. Blood pools within the atria, and as it is not moving as it should, it can form a blood clot.
The risk: If one of those clots comes loose it can move through the blood stream to the brain and block one of the main arteries.
The impact: During a stroke parts of the brain are cut off from oxygen supply and nerve cells are no longer functioning and die.
Alarm signals of a stroke include temporary trouble seeing or speaking; numbness or weakness of one side of the face (drooping mouth), one arm or one leg; paralysis especially on one side of the body; sudden severe headache or dizziness. If any of these symptoms occur, you should immediately call an ambulance.
Risk factors
Not every patient has the same risk of suffering a stroke. What matters is the individual health history. If additional risk factors are present, the possibility of having a stroke is significantly increased:
- Atrial fibrillation
- Recurrent stroke, transient ischaemic attack, systemic embolism
- Age of 75 onwards
- Cardiac insufficiency / left ventricular dysfunction, e.g. dysfunctional ejection function of the left ventricle
- Hypertension
- Diabetes mellitus
- Angiopathy
Consequences
Stroke by numbers: 17 million people worldwide suffer a stroke every year. One-third of these people die as a consequence and another third are left permanently disabled.2 Time is the most critical aspect for acute stroke care, as every minute after a stroke, approximately 1.9 million brain cells can be lost permanently.3
In short, time is brain! The fate of the patient depends on whether the blocked arteries can be opened again quickly. There is a simple test that can help everyone identify the most common symptoms of a stroke.
The FAST test
If symptoms such as paralysis, speech disorder or loss of sensation arise, you should immediately call an ambulance. The more time passes, the more brain tissue can die and the more severe the irreversible damage to the brain will be. Guidelines recommend that people who have had a stroke should be treated in a specialized stroke unit by a dedicated team. Treatment should be initiated as quickly as possible after the onset of symptoms - ideally within 60 minutes after arrival at the hospital.4,5 The following applies: the less time it takes to first treatment, the greater the chance for a long-term therapy success.
Angles Initiative
For more information on the initiative, please visit: www.angels-initiative.com.
References
1 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Types of Strokes. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/stroke/types.html (accessed August 2017).
2 World Stroke Organization. http://www.worldstrokecampaign.org/ (accessed August 2017.)
3 Saver J. Time is Brain – Quantified. Stroke 2006;37:263-266.
4 Jauch E, et al. Guidelines for the Early Management of Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke. Stroke 2013;44:870-947.
5 ESO Guidelines 2009 Update. www.eso-stroke.org (accessed August 2017).