The test can detect brain tissue damaged by an ischemic stroke and brain hemorrhages. An MRI uses powerful radio waves and a magnetic field to create a detailed view of the brain. This type of test is called a computerized tomography angiography. You might have a dye injected into your bloodstream to view the blood vessels in the neck and brain in greater detail. A CT scan can show bleeding in the brain, an ischemic stroke, a tumor or other conditions. A CT scan uses a series of X-rays to create a detailed image of your brain. You also may be tested to see if you have an infection. You may need tests to check how fast your blood clots and whether your blood sugar is too high or low. A neurological exam looks at how a potential stroke is affecting your nervous system. A healthcare professional does several tests, including listening to your heart and checking your blood pressure. Healthcare professionals also need to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms, such as a brain tumor or a drug reaction.Ī cerebral angiogram showing a carotid aneurysm associated with stroke You'll likely have a CT scan or other imaging test soon after arrival. Your emergency team works to learn what type of stroke you're having. Thank you for your time and we wish you well.ĭuring a stroke, things move quickly once you get to the hospital. Your medical team will also institute therapies to help you with any deficit that you might have related to your stroke so that you can live your life to the fullest after a stroke occurs. Work with your medical team to arrange for the appropriate evaluation to clarify why the stroke happened, and institute strategies to prevent another stroke from occurring in the future. If stroke symptoms occur, seek emergency care. If you have any stroke risk factors, partner with your medical team to control them. Celebrate the gains from week to week and month to month. A person can continue to recover from a stroke for many months after a stroke up to a year or even longer. The patient with a stroke will typically start therapies very early after a stroke, including physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Some strokes lead to only mild symptoms, and others are more severe and have a major impact on speech, strength, swallowing, walking, and vision. Modifiable risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, cigarette smoking, diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, lack of regular exercise, obesity, heavy alcohol use, recreational drug use, and some types of heart disease.Įvery stroke is a little bit different because any area of the brain can be affected by a stroke. Non-modifiable risk factors include age, race, gender, and family history of stroke. There are both non-modifiable risk factors, those things we cannot change, and modifiable risk factors, those things that can be changed. And stroke prevention is far more effective than trying to treat a stroke after it has occurred. Stroke treatments are most effective if they can be used early after stroke symptoms occur. Emergency treatments can sometimes be used to restore the blood flow. In the most common type of stroke, called an ischemic stroke, or cerebral infarction, there's a lack of blood flow to an area of the brain leading the brain cells to begin to die off due to a lack of oxygen and other nutrients. The brain cells are affected very quickly after a stroke occurs. People with that type of hemorrhage typically present with a sudden onset of a very severe headache, unlike anything they've ever experienced before, and they should seek emergency medical care. But on occasion, that aneurysm can rupture, leading to bleeding into and surrounding the brain, a bleeding type of stroke called a subarachnoid hemorrhage. About two to three percent of the population has a brain aneurysm, and most never cause any symptoms. The risk of stroke is markedly increased in the days and weeks after those symptoms occur, so seek emergency evaluation to clarify why the symptoms occurred and how best to prevent a future stroke.Īn aneurysm is a small saccular-shaped or berry-shaped out-pouching off of an artery in the brain. The symptoms should not be ignored even if they are temporary. Sometimes stroke symptoms may be temporary, lasting only several minutes or hours, and this is called a transient ischemic attack. Time to call 911 should those symptoms occur. F for facial weakness, A for arm weakness, S for speech slurring, and T for time. The fast acronym, F.A.S.T., is a good way of remembering stroke symptoms and what to do if you or a friend or loved one experiences those symptoms. And I'm here to answer some of the important question you may have about strokes. Robert Brown, a neurologist at Mayo Clinic.
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