What is a Stroke?

A stroke occurs when blood flow to the brain is cut off due to a blood clot.1 When the blood flow is cut off the brain cells become deprived of oxygen and begin to die.1 A stroke is similar to a heart attack but it occurs in the brain, a “brain attack”.1 How a person is affected by the stroke depends on where the blood clot occurred and how long the brain is damaged.1 There are two different strokes that can occur; a hemorrhagic stroke and an ischemic stroke.1  

Hemorrhagic strokes are the least common of strokes and only account for 15% of all strokes.1 A hemorrhagic stroke is either a brain aneurism burst of weakened vessel leak.1 An intracerebal hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a diseased blood vessel within the brain bust allowing the blood to leak inside the brain.2 A subarachnoid hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel just outside the brain ruptures allowing blood to fill around the brain.2 Although a hemorrhagic stroke only accounts for 15% of strokes, they are responsible for about 40% of all stroke deaths.1

An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel carrying blood to the brain is blocked by a blood clot.1 Ischemic strokes account for 87% of all stroke incidents.1 There are two different types of ischemic strokes. An embolic stroke occurs when a blood clot or plaque fragment forms somewhere in the body and travels to the brain.1 About 15% of embolic strokes occur in people with atrial fibrillation.1 A thrombotic stroke occurs when a blood forms inside one of the arteries supplying blood to the brain.1 This type of stroke is more prevalent in people with high cholesterol.1

A stroke is similar to a heart attack in the aspects of living a healthy lifestyle can help prevent or lower your odds of suffering a stroke. Some statistics on strokes include:

·      Each year 800,000 people experience a new or recurrent stroke.1

·      A stroke happens every 40 seconds.1

·      Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S.1

·      Every 4 minutes someone dies from a stroke.1

·      Up to 80 percent of strokes can be prevented.1

·      Strokes are the leading cause of disability in the U.S.1

Take the extra cautions and steps of a healthy diet, exercise and annual check ups at your doctor to prevent yourself or someone you love from suffering from a stroke.

1What is stroke? (2014, July 16). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://www.stroke.org/understand-stroke/what-stroke

2The Internet Stroke Center. (n.d.). Retrieved November 23, 2015, from http://www.strokecenter.org/patients/about-stroke/ischemic-stroke/