World Stroke Day

October 29 marks World Stroke Day, a pathology that ranks second among causes of death after coronary heart disease It can develop slowly or in a matter of minutes, but is always fatal if the patient does not receive medical attention According to statistics, strokes are rapidly making people “younger” If previously it was predominantly older people who died from it, today stroke after 30 years of age is becoming not an exception, but a kind of rule Stroke Day is intended to draw public attention to this global problem, because in almost 80% of cases this pathology can be avoided altogether Contrary to common misconceptions, a stroke has nothing to do with the heart, as it is characterized by a violation of cerebral circulation There are two main scenarios for stroke - ischemic and hemorrhagic In the first case, the pathology develops quite slowly One of the arteries that supplies brain cells becomes narrowed or blocked by a blood clot, causing the cells to slowly die It can develop against the background of atherosclerosis, thrombosis, and hypotension Ischemic stroke has its own classification depending on the clinical picture This type of pathology is more common, accounting for up to 80% of stroke cases Due to its slow course, ischemic stroke can be recognized by a number of signs, which will be discussed further Hemorrhagic stroke always develops rapidly The patient feels such a sharp headache that he usually immediately loses consciousness At this time, hemorrhage begins in the brain - a vessel ruptures with the formation of a hematoma, which compresses the brain tissue Hemorrhagic stroke can develop against the background of hypertension, blood diseases, alcoholism, rupture of an aneurysm, physical or psychological stress The earlier a stroke can be recognized, the higher the sick person’s chances of saving his life Early diagnosis also increases the likelihood of full rehabilitation later The most difficult situation arises with hemorrhagic stroke Changes in the brain occur so rapidly that it is almost impossible to prevent hemorrhage, but the patient may develop a severe headache, blurred vision, sweating, dry mouth, tachycardia or arrhythmia, and a feeling of heat the day before Ischemic stroke has a number of characteristic symptoms that appear in most people As mentioned above, this pathology develops slowly The patient may experience confusion, headache, blurred vision or speech, numbness in the arms or legs up to paralysis, but only on one side - either the left or the right There is also a simple stroke diagnosis that anyone can do To do this, you need to ask the potential patient to say something, smile and raise both hands If he really has a stroke, then one corner of his lips does not rise and the smile will turn out crooked Such patients also cannot raise both arms; one will either be lower or even begin to move to the side Speech disorder is another characteristic sign of a stroke, so a person will not be able to pronounce phrases clearly Many patients characterize this condition as “porridge in the mouth” Unfortunately, the patient’s behavior is in many ways reminiscent of the behavior of a person under the influence of alcohol, so passers-by often pass by such people, unaware that they need urgent medical attention