If a person notices the first signs of a stroke, then he needs to seek medical help as soon as possible. The sooner the patient is treated for this disease, the greater his chances of survival. To understand what a stroke is, its symptoms and first signs, read in detail all the information presented in this article.

What is a stroke

Stroke is an acute circulatory disorder of the brain, which manifests itself in the blockage or rupture of a vessel. There are two types of cerebral stroke: ischemic stroke (with blockage) and hemorrhagic stroke (with rupture).

Stroke is considered the most common brain disease among adults. Unfortunately, as you age, your risk of having a stroke increases. Statistics show that this disease affects 0.1–0.4% of the population per year (depending on place of residence). Brain stroke is one of the leading causes of disability and death.

Causes, warning signs and symptoms

The following factors indicate that a person may experience painful brain damage in the future:

• Heredity. If a person has relatives who have suffered a stroke or myocardial infarction, then he is also at risk.
• High blood pressure, pain in the heart area, arrhythmia.
• Tendency to form blood clots.
• Diabetes.
• High percentage of body fat (obesity).
• Atherosclerosis, high cholesterol.
• Smoking and alcoholism.
• Vegetovascular dystonia.
• Ischemic attacks that appear with a certain frequency.

It is always important to pay attention to the symptoms of an impending stroke. Having identified the harbingers ( early signs stroke in a person), the patient will be able to prevent the onset of the disease. These include:

• nausea;
• dizziness;
• general weakness;
• heavy sweating;
• numbness of the arms, legs or face on one side;
• problems with speech, vision, hearing and motor function;
• clouding of consciousness;
• poor memory;
• severe headaches.

How to understand that a person has the main signs of a stroke?

1. Ask the sick person to smile. If he is really sick, then his smile should be crooked: one part of the face is paralyzed, and the corner of the lip drops down.
2. Let the victim try to say something. With this disease, he will speak slowly and unintelligibly, as if under the influence of alcohol.
3. Tell the patient to raise their hands. IN in this case raising them to the same height will be extremely difficult, since one hand will definitely fall down.
4. You can also ask him to stick out his tongue. In this situation, it will be asymmetrical, and one side will sink.

It is worth noting the following first symptoms of a stroke:

• convulsions;
• complete or partial paralysis of the body;
• loss or confusion of consciousness;
• vomit;
• Strong headache;
• heat;
• low heart rate;
• facial redness;
• low pressure;
• breathing problems;
• unconscious defecation or urination.

This type of cerebral infarction is the most common; it leads to either death or disability. In 85% of cases, it affects people over 50 years of age who have previously had pathologies of the cardiovascular system. The symptoms of this type of stroke are characterized by vagueness, gradual increase and periodic manifestations. It develops at night or in the morning.

The severity of brain damage in this disease primarily depends on the type of previously experienced heart attack and the duration of problems with the circulatory system. Cell destruction can occur in small areas of the brain or over a large area, which can severely damage it.

There are four main stages during illness:

1. Acute phase. Occurs within 21 days from the moment the stroke begins. The death of the affected brain tissue occurs in the first 3–5 days. This stage is characterized by neuronal atrophy and the appearance of perifocal edema.
2. The early recovery stage lasts about six months. During this period, paranecrosis (the initial reversible phase of damage) of brain cells occurs and collateral circulation around the site of the disease is restored.
3. The late recovery stage continues throughout the year. It manifests itself in the appearance of cystic defects in brain tissue and the replacement of dead tissue with glial scars.
4. A time of lasting consequences. The complication of the disease depends on the patient’s age, metabolism in his brain and the presence of resulting pathologies.

There are cases when bleeding may begin in the area where the primary infarction occurred. This process occurs either in the first days after the onset of the disease, or at the end of the first week. Due to bleeding, the patient’s health may sharply deteriorate, blood pressure may increase and focal neurological symptoms may appear, which can lead to cerebral edema and secondary stem syndrome (impaired consciousness and vital functions).

Consequences

Despite the complexity of the symptoms of cerebral ischemia, people do not die from it as often as many people think. Often, people who survive this disease experience disability, dementia, depression, problems with thinking and learning, and fatigue. These processes occur due to impaired blood circulation in the brain tissue.

If the ischemic disease affects small parts of the brain, then neurological symptoms may weaken over time. This is due to the fact that healthy areas of the brain take over the functions of damaged ones. The sooner a patient pays attention to the symptoms of an incipient stroke and seeks help from a specialist, the more effective his treatment and recovery will be.

Minor ischemic stroke

The causes of a mini-stroke are almost always identical to the causes of a regular stroke. This could also be a small hemorrhage, a blood clot, a blockage of a vessel, or a sclerotic plaque.

A minor stroke, the symptoms and first signs of which manifest themselves in a disturbance of the motor system, as well as problems with vision and speech, disappears 21 days after its onset. But this in no way means that this problem is not worth addressing. On the contrary, a micro-stroke is a harbinger that the brain is at risk of a more serious impending illness. If a person does not take any measures after this, then everything can end very badly.

Typically, this type of brain disease develops during the daytime. It occurs suddenly during heavy physical activity, extreme stress or fatigue. Most often, hemorrhagic disease appears in people aged 35 to 60 years. But also in more at a young age This type of stroke is possible, especially in people who use psychotropic substances (for example, amphetamine or cocaine).

Hemorrhagic stroke most often begins due to hypertension, atherosclerosis and cerebral aneurysm, less often due to poor blood clotting. Due to increased blood pressure, the vessel bursts, blood spills into nearby tissues, which leads to the formation of a hematoma inside the brain.

Symptoms of the disease may vary depending on where exactly the bleeding is localized.

Consequences

Unlike ischemia, after which the patient has some chance of returning to normal life, cerebral hemorrhage is more dangerous. Often this disease is fatal. This happens because cerebral edema begins to progress over time, and death may unexpectedly occur after another bleeding, but in a different part of the brain. If the patient survives, he will face disability without the possibility of a full recovery.

Rehabilitation, which is carried out in special departments of hospitals and sanatoriums, will take a lot of time and effort from the patient. The patient’s condition is monitored by doctors, exercise therapy instructors and nurses. In rare cases, rehabilitation can lead to partial restoration of health.

Stroke in women and men: main differences

1. As a rule, in women, a stroke can begin after 60 years, and in men - after 40 years.
2. Pregnant women are more likely to have a stroke than women who are not pregnant.
3. Women suffer from this disease more severely than men.
4. Women are more prone to blood clots and vascular complications.
5. The mortality rate from this disease among men is an order of magnitude lower than among women.
6. To all the previously mentioned risk factors in women, you can add oral contraceptives, migraines and problems during pregnancy.
7. Women who frequently find themselves in stressful situations and suffer from mood swings are much more susceptible to stroke than those who do not have such problems.

Prevention

For whom is stroke prevention most important? It is worth highlighting several categories of people:

• aged people;
• hypertensive patients;
• people suffering from heart failure and arrhythmia;
• people with diseases that form blood clots;
• diabetics;
• experienced smokers.

All these people should special attention take care of your health. Listen to the basic tips that will help you avoid this terrible disease:

1. Monitor your blood pressure. In most cases, the main culprit of cerebral hemorrhage is hypertension. Buy a machine that measures blood pressure. Hypertensive patients need to check their condition 3 times a day. If you experience high blood pressure, you should immediately seek help from a doctor.
2. Treat yourself for cardiac arrhythmia. Blood clots that form in the heart and on its valves can enter the general bloodstream and block the lumen of blood vessels in the brain. People with arrhythmia are at particular risk. These patients should have an electrocardiogram every six months. If a heart valve malfunction is detected, you should consult a doctor who will prescribe the necessary course of treatment.
3. Give up bad habits. This is especially true for heavy smokers, because they are the ones most susceptible to cerebral infarction. It has been scientifically proven that if you quit smoking, then after 5 years the risk of getting sick will decrease to a minimum.
4. You need to stop eating cholesterol. People at risk should give up animal products and completely reconsider their diet. You need to switch to eating healthy plant foods, eat more vegetables, fruits and greens.
5. Physical exercises should be selected taking into account the patient’s age and the presence of other diseases. It is very important that the patient exercises physical exercise every day. Most suitable option for all patients is daily walking for 30–60 minutes.
6. Control your sugar levels. If you do not have diabetes, still try to check your blood glucose levels at least once a year.

These simple but effective rules will help you prevent the onset of illness and other diseases associated with it. Be sure to share this information with all your loved ones so that they also know what the symptoms of a stroke are and what needs to be done to ensure that this disease never overtakes them.

In this article I touch on the difficult topic of stroke. What is the difference in the course of the disease in men and women? What are the symptoms of a stroke, how to recognize it in time and provide timely assistance. Stroke is now the third leading cause of death in our country and the leading cause of disability, so everyone needs to prevent this terrible disease.

A stroke is a sharp, sudden disruption in the blood circulation of the brain. This disorder can be caused by blockage of a vessel or rupture of a vessel, then bleeding into the brain occurs. A stroke can be ischemic (when a blood vessel is blocked) or hemorrhagic (when it ruptures). During a stroke, the brain suffers from a lack of oxygen and its cells begin to die.

As you age, your risk of developing a stroke increases. But men have a younger stroke; they are more likely than women to have an attack after 40 years of age. After 65 years, approximately the same amount of disease occurs in women and men. But women have more deaths and the disease progresses more severely.

Women, unlike men, have additional risk factors that can provoke a stroke. This is taking hormonal birth control pills, pathological pregnancy, frequent migraines. Women are more prone to forming blood clots in blood vessels. Also, the risk of stroke increases in women who are unbalanced, suspicious, under constant stress, who take everything to heart, with.

main reason the development of stroke in men - damage to the blood vessels of the brain, which is provoked by hypertension, heart attack and other diseases of the cardiovascular system.

At the first sign of a stroke, you should call ambulance. If you do not provide assistance in the first 3-6 hours, then it will be impossible to restore the normal function of the affected area of ​​the brain.

Stroke: harbingers, the very first signs of an upcoming disease.

There is a group of people who are more susceptible to stroke than others. This group includes people with diabetes mellitus, with hypertension, with increased level cholesterol, obese, smokers, suffering from cardiovascular diseases.

Often there may be warning signs several days or hours before a stroke occurs. If you experience these symptoms, consult your doctor.

So, the very first signs of an imminent attack are:

• nausea
• severe weakness throughout the body
• frequent headaches “for no reason”
• dizziness
• numbness of the arms and legs on one side
• numbness of the face on one side
• excessive sweating
• disturbances in speech, movement, vision, hearing
• clouding of consciousness
• sudden memory loss

These warning signs mostly go away on their own. Therefore, if you experience such deterioration in your health, do not hesitate, go to the hospital. If you seek help early, you can avoid brain hemorrhage.

Signs and symptoms of ischemic stroke.

The first signs of a stroke are:

• severe, sharp headache
• dizziness, possible falls, loss of balance
• consciousness becomes cloudy
• severe weakness throughout the body

Then there may be the following symptoms of a stroke:

• numbness of the limbs on one side of the body
• numbness of the face
• vomit
• impaired motor coordination
• it's hard to talk
• may have seizures
• facial redness
• heat
• involuntary bowel or bladder movement
• heavy sweating
• sudden decrease in vision (possibly in one eye)
• rapid breathing
• low heart rate

There is a test that is done to see if a person is having a stroke.

First, ask the person to smile. During a stroke, one side of the face will be motionless, the corners of the lips will move down.

Second, ask the person to raise their hands up. If you have a stroke, you will not be able to hold your arms in this position. One arm will rise more slowly.

Third, ask the person to repeat a simple phrase after you. With a stroke, a person cannot express his thoughts normally and does not understand well. Ask the person to stick out their tongue. During a stroke, it will deviate in one direction.

If symptoms are confirmed during tests, call an ambulance immediately. This is an ischemic stroke, a cerebral circulatory disorder, or a blockage of a vessel. The sooner help is provided, the greater the likelihood of a full life after a stroke.

For a mild stroke, the patient needs to spend 20 days in intensive care. After intensive therapy, there is a high probability of returning to normal life, that is, the patient will have restored brain function and will not have paralysis or problems with speech.

With moderate and severe stroke, 80% of patients remain disabled, 20% die.

Hemorrhagic stroke: symptoms

In the case when a person has a hemorrhagic stroke, that is, a rupture of a vessel and hemorrhage in the brain, there will be no longer any warning signs. Everything happens quickly and requires an instant reaction from people nearby. Symptoms develop quickly and you need to be aware of them. In this case, the person often loses consciousness, he may have convulsions, the skin turns red, breathing becomes hoarse, and the eyes move toward the affected hemisphere of the brain. Involuntary urination and defecation are also common. When a person regains consciousness, he has a very severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and general lethargy.

First aid for stroke.

1. Naturally, immediately after the first signs of a stroke you need to call an ambulance. Then provide the patient with complete rest. Place him on his back, raise his head, and turn his head to the side when vomiting. Make sure that the patient does not move because the symptoms will worsen. You should not give food or drink to a person having an attack, so as not to activate the gag reflex.
2. If possible, put something cold on the back of your head (ice), and, on the contrary, warm your legs (a bottle of hot water). Unfasten the top buttons or take off tight clothes so that you can breathe fully, open the window.
3. If the person is conscious, give 10 glycine tablets under the tongue. If the limbs are paralyzed, rub them with the mixture before the doctor arrives. vegetable oil and alcohol (2 parts oil, 1 part alcohol).
4. If possible, measure blood pressure and pulse, remember and inform your doctor. For very high blood pressure, you can give blood pressure lowering pills (which the patient usually takes) once.
5. If a person is unconscious, then the patient’s upper body should be raised 30 degrees and his head should be turned to the side. After vomiting, clean your mouth with a piece of natural tissue.
6. If the person is not breathing, perform artificial respiration.
7. When the doctor arrives, you need to tell him how the attack progressed and what medications you gave him.

If everything is done correctly, the consequences of this terrible disease can be mitigated. You cannot try to treat a stroke on your own, as this will only cause harm. Treatment will be prescribed by the doctor after examination, based on the severity of the disease and consequences.

Stroke: prevention.

It is better to prevent any disease than to treat it for a long time. To prevent stroke, you first need to take care of your health. After all, it is known that 70% of diseases are caused by poor nutrition. The diet should contain less salt, because people who love salty foods are susceptible to high blood pressure. The menu should contain less fat, especially of animal origin. Since animal fat contains a lot of cholesterol, which causes atherosclerosis and plaques in blood vessels. The menu should include 5 servings of vegetables and 3 servings of fruits daily.

If you have diabetes, you need to control your blood sugar and follow it, as diabetes increases the risk of stroke.

Need to lead healthy image life, quit smoking if you have this habit, visit more fresh air and walk more.

You definitely need to sleep 8-9 hours a day, preferably going to bed before 11 p.m. Try to avoid stress.

Also, prevent obesity; if it exists, then it is rational to fight it. That is, don’t go on a strict diet and then eat the sides again. And constantly, which will help normalize weight and control it.

And please watch the video from the “Live Healthy” program about how to recognize a stroke and a mini-stroke.

From this article you will learn: everything about the first signs of a stroke and “later” symptoms, differences in manifestation different types stroke, stroke test.

Article publication date: November 24, 2016

Article updated date: 05/25/2019

A stroke is an acute circulatory disorder in a region of the brain. Regardless of the volume and type of damage, a stroke always poses a serious threat to the health and even life of the patient - it is the second most common cause of death (from diseases) among the world's population.

The course and prognosis are largely determined by the timeliness and quality of care provided: if the first signs of stroke pathology were immediately recognized and the patient received the necessary treatment, the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome (disability and death) is reduced by 2 or more times.

The clinical picture of a stroke consists of cerebral, autonomic and focal symptoms.

First, we'll look at the common symptoms for any type of stroke.

General cerebral symptoms

General cerebral symptoms during the development of a stroke occur due to increased intracranial pressure, changes in blood circulation in the brain and irritation of the meninges. These include:

1. Headache of varying severity - from constant aching to sudden, acute and painful.
2. Nausea and vomiting due to headache.
3. Dizziness, feeling of fullness and tinnitus.
4. Disturbances of consciousness - from mild disorientation in space and time to complete loss of consciousness and transition to coma. When disorientated, a person cannot remember (or with difficulty, after long thoughts) remembers the date, day of the week and place in which he is, cannot find his way home, forgets his name, etc. A state of stoppage, characterized by stupefaction, lethargy, is possible , weak and slow reaction to what is happening around. In a coma, there is no consciousness, there is no reaction to tactile and painful stimuli.
5. Seizures.

General cerebral symptoms of stroke

Focal symptoms

Since each area of ​​the brain is responsible for specific processes in the body (controls memory, attention, speech, movements in one or another muscle group, etc.), when blood circulation is impaired in a particular area, specific symptoms arise - the so-called focal neurological symptoms.

Symptoms of a stroke depend on which part of the brain is affected

It is focal symptoms that are extremely important in diagnosing stroke. Based on the nature of the focal symptoms, one can not only judge whether a stroke has occurred: a neurologist or an experienced therapist will be able to determine, based on characteristic signs, in which area the blood circulation is impaired - even before conducting a special examination.

A feature of focal symptoms is their appearance on the side opposite to the location of the stroke. So, if blood circulation is impaired in the right hemisphere, then focal symptoms will be expressed on the left, and vice versa.

Certain areas of the cerebral cortex are characterized by “their own” focal symptoms.

Frontal cortex

1. Paresis – absence of voluntary movements. They occur in one limb (monoparesis) or in both an arm and a leg on one side (hemiparesis). In this case, hemiparesis will be right-sided if blood circulation is impaired in the cortex of the frontal lobe of the left hemisphere, and left-sided if the stroke affected the right hemisphere.
2. Speech disorders – difficulties in constructing sentences.
3. Swaying and unsteadiness when walking.
4. Changes in personality and behavior - causeless rage or, on the contrary, gaiety; deep apathy with a lack of reaction to what is happening around while maintaining consciousness; atypical behavior (aggressiveness or unjustified cheerfulness).
5. Cramps.
6. Loss of smell on the side opposite to the lesion.

Parietal cortex

1. Loss of tactile sensitivity (lack of sensation from touching the skin).
2. Loss of numeracy, writing and reading abilities.

Temporal lobe cortex

• Changes in hearing - deafness, decreased hearing acuity, tinnitus and auditory hallucinations, various defects in auditory perception (up to loss of the ability to understand spoken speech).
• Memory disorders - amnesia (memory lapses), deja vu (false memories of what is happening, the feeling that it has already happened before).

Occipital cortex

Pathology of vision – complete loss and various visual impairments are possible:

• visual hallucinations (a person sees something that is not really there);
• visual illusions (incorrect visual perception of existing objects);
• inability to recognize by appearance objects and people are familiar.

Autonomic symptoms

Autonomic symptoms are caused by changes in the functioning of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. The most common symptoms of a stroke are:

• heartbeat,
• sweating,
• feeling of dry mouth,
• feeling of heat.

These symptoms are nonspecific and serve rather as additional signs; by their presence it is impossible to judge whether a stroke has occurred, as well as its type and severity of the condition.

Differences between ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke

Poor circulation in a region of the brain can occur for two main reasons - due to insufficient blood flow (ischemic stroke) or due to hemorrhage (). Since the causes and mechanisms of development of pathology in these two situations are significantly different, the approaches to treatment will also be different. Therefore, it is important to know the main differences between ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

Main differences

Sign	Ischemic stroke	Hemorrhagic stroke
Age	Most often elderly	Any. Hemorrhages are possible, including in young people
Start	Usually gradual, with a gradual increase in severity of symptoms	Typically spicy
Severity of the condition	Varying degrees of severity	The condition is serious and extremely serious
Consciousness	Various types of consciousness disorders	More often, loss of consciousness and deep coma
Headache	Dull, gradually intensifying. Doesn't always happen	Sudden and very strong
Vomit	Rarely	Often
Stiff neck – a feeling of rigidity and resistance when trying to bend the patient’s head and bring the chin to the chest	Absent	Almost always
General cerebral and focal symptoms	Expressed to varying degrees	Expressed clearly

Stroke tests

The course and severity of a stroke are determined by many factors. If blood circulation is disrupted in a small area of ​​the brain (the so-called microstroke), specific focal symptoms may be absent, and the clinical picture is often blurred. To diagnose stroke in unclear and suspicious cases, there are special tests that can be easily performed independently in front of a mirror, or performed under the supervision of relatives or medical professionals.

Such tests include smiling (baring teeth), closing your eyes, and sticking out your tongue. Due to paresis of the facial muscles during a stroke, a crooked smile (crooked grin), asymmetry of facial expressions, uneven squinting and deviation of the tongue in the direction opposite to the side of the lesion are noted.

In addition to facial tests, tests for coordination and clarity of speech are used. The result of coordination tests for stroke is the patient's instability in a standing position with his eyes closed, missing the finger-nose test (when asked to stretch out his arms, and then index finger first with your left hand, then with your right hand, touch the tip of your nose).

To check the clarity of speech, the patient must clearly pronounce a tongue twister or a complex sentence. If you have a stroke, this requirement cannot be met.

Indications for testing include any symptoms suspicious of a stroke: blurred speech, changes in behavior or some strange oddities in behavior, memory problems, lethargy, etc.

Test for diagnosing stroke

Prevention

Conclusion

Stroke is a serious condition that requires emergency specialized medical care. Even if the patient had a mini-stroke or experienced a transient cerebrovascular accident (the symptoms went away on their own within a few hours), there is a high risk of a second attack in the near future, and in a more severe form. Therefore, if you have any symptoms of a stroke, or even just if you suspect it, you must immediately seek medical help - call an ambulance or take the patient to the neurological department.

Stroke - serious disease. It takes away life, leads to severe disability and loss of productivity. And even with a successful outcome, the disease does not go away without a trace.

About what a stroke is and what types of this disease there are, Healthy people Tatiana Pavlovskaya told.

Tatiana Pavlovskaya

Translated from Latin “insultus” (stroke) - attack, attack or blow.

Theory. What is a stroke?

A stroke is an acute disorder of cerebral circulation. It is characterized by the sudden appearance of focal or cerebral neurological symptoms. Meanwhile, general cerebral symptoms do not always appear and, as a rule, are typical for fairly extensive, often hemorrhagic, strokes.

For focal symptoms characterized by motor, sensory, speech and other disorders. They are also called symptoms or clinical manifestations diseases. In case of a stroke, such symptoms persist for more than a day!

Exists two types of stroke– ischemic and hemorrhagic.

Tatiana Pavlovskaya

Researcher of the neurological department of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Ischemic stroke occurs when there is a sharp decrease and cessation of blood flow in a certain area of ​​the brain. Hemorrhagic stroke occurs when there is bleeding in the brain, under its membranes or in the ventricles.

Ischemic stroke

It happens as a result of embolism, thrombosis (blockage) of cerebral vessels or a sharp fall
cerebral blood flow in acute cardiovascular failure, massive blood loss. There are several subtypes of ischemic stroke.

The most common - atherothrombotic cerebral infarction. It accounts for 30-40% of cases of ischemic stroke. Its cause is thrombosis, which develops at the site of formation of an atherosclerotic plaque in a vessel. The result is a disruption or cessation of blood flow.

Embolic stroke develops in 20-30% of cases of acute ischemic cerebrovascular accident. Most often it is caused by the so-called cardiogenic embolism; it may be the result of embolism (blockage) with fragments of a disintegrated atherosclerotic plaque.

Tatiana Pavlovskaya

Researcher of the neurological department of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Neurology and Neurosurgery

As a rule, in such cases the patient has atrial fibrillation. Blood clots can form in the left atrium or ventricle of the heart, which travel through the bloodstream to the brain.

Embolic stroke occurs not only because of it. It can occur if a person has had a myocardial infarction or has a heart defect. With the blood flow, a thrombus that breaks away from the aorta and its large branches enters the brain. The result is an acute violation of cerebral blood supply.

Another subtype of ischemic stroke is lacunar stroke. Its “distinctive” feature is that it is formed as a result of blockage (occlusion) of small-caliber arteries. Most often, this pathology occurs in people suffering from arterial hypertension and diabetes. It is these diseases that are characterized by the development of microangiopathy (damage to small blood vessels).

Tatiana Pavlovskaya

Researcher of the neurological department of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Neurology and Neurosurgery

Ischemic stroke can also be caused by more rare causes. For example, increased blood clotting in hematological diseases or as a result of a sharp drop in the so-called perfusion pressure due to a discrepancy between the needs of the brain and the blood supply that can provide the cardiovascular system V this moment time.

Vascular lesions that are not associated with atherosclerosis can also lead to stroke. Probable Causes- dissection of arterial walls (dissection), inflammatory lesions of the vascular wall (vasculitis).

Hemorrhagic stroke

Such a stroke caused by rupture of the vascular wall and, accordingly, hemorrhage in the brain. The reason for this development of events is very often undiagnosed and (or) untreated arterial hypertension with high levels blood pressure. At a young age, this type of stroke can be caused by congenital abnormalities of the structure of blood vessels, such as aneurysms (expansion of a blood vessel or cavity of the heart due to changes or damage to their walls) or arteriovenous malformations (impaired development of the circulatory system).

Signs and first symptoms of a stroke. Explicit and Implicit

A stroke occurs suddenly. However, patients often have so-called harbingers.

Tatiana Pavlovskaya

Researcher of the neurological department of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Neurology and Neurosurgery

In approximately half of cases, a stroke is preceded by transient ischemic attacks. In everyday life they are called microstroke.

In a transient ischemic attack, acutely developed stroke symptoms persist for no more than 24 hours from the onset of the disease. This:

• weakness, awkwardness in the limbs;
• the appearance of numbness in various parts of the face and limbs;
• speech and vision impairment;
• dizziness, imbalance.

If such symptoms go away within 24 hours, this is a transient ischemic attack. At the same time, it is often a harbinger of a stroke! Such a condition cannot be left unattended! If you react in time, seek medical help and carry out all the necessary diagnostic and therapeutic measures, a stroke in such cases can be avoided!

A stroke is a cerebrovascular accident. This disease requires urgent medical attention. But very often there are no doctors nearby, and life loved one is under threat. How to recognize a stroke, and what are the distinctive symptoms of this pathology?

During a stroke, blood circulation in certain areas of the brain is disrupted. This can occur during severe hemorrhage, vascular spasms and thrombosis. A separate part of the brain loses the necessary nutrition and can remain viable for very a short time. A person’s life at this time depends largely on timely medical care.

The person nearby should under no circumstances succumb to panic and nervousness in order to provide the necessary assistance.

The following are considered harbingers of the disease:

• State of weakness. There is no desire to do anything, talk, or drowsiness appears.
• Pain. Attacks of pain occur in the limbs or face. After a while they suddenly disappear. Characterized by chest pain.
• Breathing problems. There is often not enough air. Shortness of breath occurs when walking.

Symptoms and signs of stroke

The disease is most often expressed by severe headaches and dizziness. Signs of an incipient stroke are blood flow to the face and a feeling of numbness of the body on one side. Initially, the person can speak, but later his condition worsens. He has difficulty walking due to balance problems. When speaking, he cannot understand the meaning of complex sentences and answer questions. Main signs of a stroke:

• A person experiences a severe headache for no apparent reason.
• There is clouding of consciousness. In some cases, loss of consciousness is possible.
• Balance disorder.
• Decreased heart rate.
• Noise in the head.
• Sharp weakness.
• The person cannot speak normally.
• Dizziness.

In some cases, the disease manifests itself primarily in severe pain, speech impairment and numbness of body parts. The first symptoms and signs of a stroke also include:

• Hearing impairment
• Involuntary bowel movement
• Facial asymmetry

If these symptoms are present, you should call emergency assistance. In this case, it is necessary to describe the patient’s condition as carefully as possible. It is believed that minimizing negative consequences is possible if health care will be carried out no less than three hours after the first signs appear. The maximum period is 6 hours. After this, it is no longer possible to avoid the negative consequences after a cerebral stroke, and a person will have to fight for his life.

A stroke can cause brain disease, memory loss, disability and death.

Signs of the disease in men

Brain stroke is one of the most common reasons leading to death. Physical activity, poor diet, alcohol consumption and smoking - all this affects the functioning of the heart and blood vessels, and can cause serious illness. After 40 years, men can experience a primary stroke.

When blood flow in the brain is impaired, a person feels constant weakness, headaches and often nausea. After drinking alcohol, heavy physical work or smoking, the condition may worsen sharply.

The first symptoms of stroke in men:

• Unsteady gait.
• Problems with speech reproduction.
• Marked drowsiness.
• Sudden onset of problems with vision or hearing.
• Difficulty breathing.
• Increased salivation.
• Weakness.

In the future, the symptoms progress - it will be difficult for the man to get out of bed. You will notice a clear asymmetry of the face. Possible loss of consciousness. Symptoms of the disease progress especially quickly in men old age- and it is worth remembering that saving the patient is possible only within three hours.

You need to be especially careful if there is a sharp increase in blood pressure and severe headache - this condition occurs before a stroke.

The signs of a micro stroke are not so pronounced. The illness begins with a severe headache. When a stroke begins, the patient may complain that he cannot feel one part of the body. The duration of symptoms is several minutes. After this, the person feels good again. Detecting the disease at this stage will help avoid secondary stroke, which often leads to disability.

USP testing to identify the first signs of stroke

If you suspect a serious illness, you need to know how to identify a stroke using special testing. Each letter of the text will serve as a hint for what needs to be done:

U – smile. The patient should smile, and you should evaluate the result. If the smile turns out to be skewed or crooked, we can talk about a stroke. At the time of a stroke, one part of the face ceases to obey the person, which can be seen by one drooping corner of the mouth when smiling. The tongue will also be positioned incorrectly.

Z – talk to the patient. Speech during a stroke is unclear and resembles the conversation of a drunk person.

P – raise your hands. The patient must raise both arms at the same time. With this disease, one arm is raised significantly lower than the other.

First aid

Until medical help arrives, it is necessary to monitor the patient’s condition and follow certain rules:

• It is necessary to place a pillow or blanket under the patient's head so that his head is approximately 30 degrees above body level.
• Provide oxygen access and open a window if necessary. Remove tight clothing.
• In case of nausea and vomiting, the person should be turned on his side so that the vomit does not enter the respiratory tract.
• For high blood pressure, you need to take appropriate medications, and for low blood pressure, put a heating pad on your legs.

Upon arrival of specialists, it is necessary to quickly talk about the patient’s condition. It is worth understanding that the first minutes of the pre-stroke state play a decisive role in the further development of the disease, and the first three hours are the time when professional help should be provided.

The disease can begin as soon as unexpected moment- and every person should be able to recognize it and know how a stroke manifests itself. After all, your future life depends on first aid and the timely call of specialists. With the help of simple testing and characteristic symptoms, anyone can suspect something is wrong and call emergency help.