Stroke
Medical risk factors
- High blood pressure.
- Cigarette smoking or secondhand smoke exposure.
- High cholesterol.
- Diabetes.
- Obstructive sleep apnea.
- Cardiovascular disease, including heart failure, heart defects, heart infection or irregular heart rhythm, such as atrial fibrillation.
Symptoms
- Trouble speaking and understanding what others are saying. You may experience confusion, slur words or have difficulty understanding speech.
- Paralysis or numbness of the face, arm or leg. You may develop sudden numbness, weakness or paralysis in the face, arm or leg. This often affects just one side of the body. Try to raise both your arms over your head at the same time. If one arm begins to fall, you may be having a stroke. Also, one side of your mouth may droop when you try to smile.
- Problems seeing in one or both eyes. You may suddenly have blurred or blackened vision in one or both eyes, or you may see double.
- Headache. A sudden, severe headache, which may be accompanied by vomiting, dizziness or altered consciousness, may indicate that you’re having a stroke.
- Trouble walking. You may stumble or lose your balance. You may also have sudden dizziness or a loss of coordination.
Treatment
The main treatment for an ischemic stroke is a medicine called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). It breaks up the blood clots that block blood flow to your brain. A healthcare provider will inject tPA into a vein in your arm. This type of medicine must be given within 3 hours after stroke symptoms start.
Diagnosis
- Computed tomography (CT) uses X-rays to take clear, detailed pictures of your brain. …
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnets and radio waves to create pictures of your brain.
