A filth cause of death stroke is rapidly increasing amongst the masses and the ongoing pandemic caused by covid-19 has proven to become an additional risk factor to this disease. As covid virus directly attacks the blood vessels and has increased the number of cases of stroke over time let us understand what actually a stroke is, its causes, types, symptoms, preventive measures and how its cases are increasing due to the covid virus in conversation with our expert Dr. NK Venkataramana, Founder Chairman and Director, Brains Hospital, Bengaluru.
What is Stroke?
Stroke is a disease that occurs due to the decreased blood supply to the brain caused by the blockage in blood vessels. As the blood supply to a part of your brain is reduced or gets interrupted it prevents the brain tissues from getting adequate amounts of oxygen and as a result the brain cells begin to die. There are mainly two types of strokes which can be categorized into different categories based upon the root cause of the stroke which are:
1. Ischemic stroke
2. Hemorrhagic Stroke
Tips to prevent strokes
The main reason due to which most of the people suffer through strokes is the medical history of their family. Sadly you can not go back in time and change the medical conditions of our relatives but here are some tips by Dr. NK Venkataramana, Founder Chairman and Director, Brains Hospital, Bengaluru that you can follow to minimize your chances of getting a stroke.
- Maintain as much distance as you can from alcohol and cigarettes as it can substantially increase your risk of getting stroke
- Practice breathing exercises and keep yourself physically active .
- Risk factors like high cholesterol, obesity, hypertension and diabetes should be identified and treated at an early stage as these can be the initial signs of stroke.
- A healthy lifestyle helps to keep your body fit and healthy and away from any kind of diseases and hence it is important to eat healthy, exercise regularly, get adequate sleep and have a positive mental status in order to reduce the risk of getting a stroke.
Types Of Strokes
In order to better understand the symptoms and preventive measures let us first take a deep dive into what are these different types of strokes and their root cause.
Ischemic stroke
The strokes which are caused by blockage in vessels or narrowing of blood vessels which creates blockage in the blood flow or and are known as ischemic stroke. These blockages can either develop due to the formation of clots or because of the fatty deposits that get built up in the blood vessels.
Hemorrhagic stroke
Hemorrhagic strokes are a kind of stroke which occurs due to the ruptures or leaks in the blood vessels of the brain which can occur due to many conditions like trauma, excessive use of blood thinners, ischemic stroke, uncontrollable high blood pressure and other such factors.
Symptoms of Stroke
In order to prevent stroke it is important to look for the early signs so that it can be treated on time in order to avoid further complications that it comes with. Make sure that you do not avoid these early signs of stroke and seek medical assistance on time.
- Severe and sudden headache accompanied with dizziness, vomiting and altered consciousness can be an indication of stroke.
- A sudden weakness, numbness or paralysis in certain parts of the body such as face, legs and arms that go on one side of the body accompanied by drooping of a side of your mouth while smiling can be the early signs of stroke.
- Losing balance, loss of coordination, sudden dizziness and stumbling while walking are some of the initial signs of stroke.
- Sudden blackened or blurred vision in one or both eyes a difference in speech that can either be slurred words or difficulty in understanding speech.
Effects of covid and stroke
The ongoing pandemic and the deadly coronavirus has rapidly increased the number of cases of strokes worldwide. Here we are decoding the relation between these two and the ways in which the covid virus causes stroke. As the predilection of covid virus which is abundant in endothelium targets the blood vessels and increases the clotting in the blood vessels which creates blockage and interrupts the supply of blood to the brain being one of the causes behind increased cases of stroke amongst the covid-19 patients.
With inputs from Dr. NK Venkataramana, Founder Chairman and Director, Brains Hospital, Bengaluru
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