Speed recovery from stroke so you can get back to normal lifestyle.
A stroke is caused by poor blood supply to the brain. Strokes fall into three main categories: transient ischemic attack (TIA), ischemic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke. These categories are further broken down into other types of strokes, including:
During an ischemic stroke, the arteries supplying blood to the brain narrow or become blocked. These blockages are caused by blood clots or blood flow that’s severely reduced. They can also be caused by pieces of plaque due to atherosclerosis breaking off and blocking a blood vessel.
An embolic stroke is one of two types of ischemic strokes. It occurs when a blood clot forms in another part of the body — often the heart or arteries in the upper chest and neck — and moves through the bloodstream to the brain. The clot gets stuck in the brain’s arteries, where it stops the flow of blood and causes a stroke.
A transient ischemic attack, often called a TIA or ministroke, occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked temporarily. Symptoms, which are similar to those of a full stroke, are typically temporary and disappear after a few minutes or hours. A TIA is usually caused by a blood clot. It serves as a warning of a future stroke, so don’t ignore a TIA.
A hemorrhagic stroke happens when an artery in the brain breaks open or leaks blood. The blood from that artery creates excess pressure in the skull and swells the brain, damaging brain cells and tissues.
What doctors can do
A stroke or TIA are medical emergencies, and the patient should get to hospital as quickly as possible - because early treatment of a TIA can prevent a stroke developing, sometimes a stroke can be reversed or damage reduced by dissolving or removing the clot (thrombolysis and thrombectomy), and neurosurgery can reduce the damage caused by a haemorrhagic stroke.
Drugs. No drugs can affect a stroke, but afterwards the patient is usually put on aspirin and usually statin cholesterol-lowering drugs. If the blood pressure is high, then this is treated too investigations. During the acute stroke a CT or MRI scan is usually performed to confirm the diagnosis and cause, and ultrasound of the carotid arteries and the heart.
After a stroke most patients are put on aspirin, a statin drug to lower the cholesterol; and blood pressure drugs if the BP is high.
Stroke symptoms can include:
Paralysis
Numbness or weakness in the arm, face, and leg, especially on one side of the body
Trouble speaking or understanding speech
Confusion
Slurring speech
Vision problems, such as trouble seeing in one or both eyes with vision blackened or blurred, or double vision
Trouble walking
Loss of balance or coordination
Dizziness
Severe, sudden headache with an unknown cause
What you can do during an attack
Act immediately – this is not the time to have doubts or worry about it being a false alarm.Get the patient to hospital as quickly as possible because the stroke could be due to either a clot or a bleed, it is best not to give any drugs such as aspirin.
Chew a magnesium tablet (800mg) if you have one. This may reduce the blood pressure and reduce damaging spasm of the brain arteries.
What you can do after stroke
Exercise - this is very important, and the patient should be encouraged to use any affected limb as much as possible.
Diet - a good healthy diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables is recommended. There is also increasing belief that taking coconut oil which the brain can use for energy, may also be helpful.
Have a good night’s sleep and if necessary have an afternoon nap for the first few weeks. Learn how to relax or even meditate, and reduce the stresses in life.
Nutritional supplements. Although there are few trials on the use of supplements after a heart attack, the powerful data on the preventive benefits of supplements probably apply.
A good multivitamin and multimineral provides the brain tissue with all the nutrition for efficient repair.
Calcium, Magnesium with Vitamin D, 800-1,000mg daily, help the reduce and artery spasm and help relaxation. Vitamin D - there is increasing evidence that low vitamin D levels increase the risk of many diseases including stroke. Sun exposure is good but most people probably require 5-8,000iu daily as a supplement as well.
Omega 3 fish oils − at least 1 gram daily, preferably 2-3 grams daily − much of the brain tissue is made of omega 3 oils, and fish oils can help with both function and repair.
Coenzyme Q10 is very important at this stage. It is essential for energy production within the cells, and low levels reduce energy. The statin drugs (Zocor, Lipex, Lipitor), used in nearly all stroke patients to lower cholesterol, also block the production of CoQ10. All people taking statin drugs should be taking Coenzyme Q10 supplements (60–200mg daily).
Get to know your brain:
Your brain, if you’re an adult, is about three pounds (1.4 kilograms) of firm-jelly-textured human computing power. And it’s surprisingly fatty—about 60 percent of the brain is fat.
All your thinking, deciding, and processing drains about 20 percent of the total energy, oxygen, and blood in your body. So much power and so many resources for about two percent of your total weight. And delivering all that blood, oxygen, and nutrients requires almost 100,000 miles of blood vessels to be packed into your skull.
All that processing means information travels fast around your brain. Although the speed of information varies, it’s estimated info can ping around the brain at about 250 miles per hour (402 kilometers per hour).
Your brain gets bored easily. Research has found that every 10 minutes you need something that sparks you emotionally to hit the reset button on your attention.
Your brain is packed with nearly 100 billion (100,000,000,000) neurons. Each links with other neurons to create networks that, in total, boost trillions of connections. This massive, complex web makes your brain the powerful central computer it is. And that’s how it’s possible for the brain to handle all the world throws at it—thinking, reacting, recalling, and controlling every aspect of your life.
Long-term memory is pretty self-explanatory, and easily separated from short-term and working memory. If it’s stored for more than a minute, it likely falls under long-term memory. But comparing working and short-term memory is a little bit more involved.
Short-term memory is the ability to remember small amounts of information for under a minute. Your ability to keep a number in your mind for long enough to write it down is an example of short-term memory. But you forget a lot of what’s stored in short-term memory.
Restful sleep also improves mental clarity and executive function. You need good sleep to focus, make decisions, and process your emotions. It provides much-needed time off for your brain to rest and prepare for the day ahead—even though your brain still does work during sleep. Your brain is at full capacity after a good night’s sleep. Cognitive skills are sharpened and memory is reinforced. Start working out for the sake of your sleep and the strength of your brain.
Growing older doesn’t mean your brain has to slow down. There are lifestyle measures you can take now to preserve your memory and keep your mind sharp. A lifelong habit of regular exercise can help you keep a healthy brain later in life.
We have amazing personalized programs to help you recover from a stroke or prevent the changes of you getting stroke. Remember when someone gets stroke, speed recovery is very important to be back to normal. The longer you take, the changes of complete recovery becomes lesser and lesser.
At ASTRA Wellness, we have amazing personalized programs to suit your daily lifestyle to help you achieve optimum health. Start today, get a FREE 10 minutes consultation. Book Now.
References :
https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/types_of_stroke.htm
https://www.healthline.com/health/stroke#stroke-treatment
https://www.stroke.org/en/about-stroke
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20350113
https://www.heartandstroke.ca/stroke
https://www.neofect.com/us/blog/what-are-the-different-types-of-stroke
https://www.drgeraldlewis.com
https://askthescientists.com/brain-facts/
https://www.aans.org/en/Patients/Neurosurgical-Conditions-and-Treatments/Anatomy-of-the-Brain
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-cognition-2794982
https://www.dana.org/explore-neuroscience/brain-basics/key-brain-terms-glossary/
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Know-Your-Brain
https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/memory/types/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/working-memory-how-you-keep-things-ldquo-in-mind-rdquo-over-the-short-term/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2657600/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4084861/
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/science/key-concepts/executive-function/
https://www.dana.org/article/how-does-the-brain-work/
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Life-and-Death-Neuron
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4960264/
Comentários