Visit a doctor if you feel dizzy, or experience blurred vision: It could be a sign of stroke
Stroke, also known as brain-attack, occurs when there is a sudden stop of blood flow to the brain.
By ET CONTRIBUTORS |
By Dr Lokesh B and Dr Santhosh NU
Stroke, commonly known as brain attack, is one of the leading cause of death around the world. It is also the most prevalent cause of chronic adult disability.
What is a stroke? Brain-attack or stroke occurs when there is a sudden stop of blood flow to the brain. There are two types of strokes - Ischemic and Hemorrhagic.
An Ischemic stroke (clot inside the brain) occurs when a sudden blockage occurs in the blood vessel supplying the brain. A hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding inside the brain) occurs when a weakened blood vessel ruptures and spills blood into brain tissue.
<p>Ischemic Stroke (L) and Haemorrhagic Stroke (Image: www.strokeassociation.org<span class="redactor-invisible-space">)<br></span></p> Symptoms The signs and symptoms of stroke vary from person to person, and are usually sudden. One can remember the main stroke symptoms with the word 'FAST', which is an acronym of Face-Arms-Speech-Time (sudden onset).
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Face - the face may have drooped on one side; the person may not be able to smile or their mouth may droop Arms - the person may not be able to lift arm or leg because of weakness or numbness Speech - speech may be slurred, or the person may not be able to talk at all despite appearing to be awake Time - time is brain; immediately rush the patient to nearest stroke centre
It is also very crucial to pay attention to few other symptoms like double vision, blurred vision or loss of vision in one eye; confusion and difficulty in understanding what other people are saying, dizziness or a sudden and severe headache. Stroke: In numbers Stroke is a silent killer and up to 80% of strokes are preventable. The common risk factors are hypertension, diabetes, smoking and dyslipidemia.
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The incidence of stroke has more than doubled over the last four decades. Out of total people having stroke, approximately 63% of them live with some form of permanent disability.
Treatment Acute treatment is the immediate treatment given when a stroke occurs. The goal of acute treatment is to keep the amount of brain injury as minimal as possible by quickly restoring blood flow to the part of the brain with the blockage. Clot busting injections called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) can be given to break the clot. Patients must be within the time window of 4.5 hours from symptom onset to be most effective.
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Mechanical thrombectomy/thrombus aspiration can be done up to 24 hours from the stroke onset. This therapy can be offered to those patients who are outside of the indicated time window or are ineligible for clot bust injection with large artery occlusion.
World No Tobacco Day: Smoking Can Hurt Eyes, Bones And Brain
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Most smokers believe smoking is cool. No matter how you indulge in it, tobacco is harmful to your health. Tobacco contains over 7,000 toxins and 70 known carcinogens (chemicals that increase cancer risk) and can damage nearly every organ of the body.
Dr Sachin Kumar, Senior Consultant - Pulmonology at Sakra World Hospital explains how smoking affects every part of your body.
The next time you are tempted to take a drag, just pause for a minute and think of the consequences of your indulgence.
Most smokers believe smoking is cool. No matter how you indulge in it, tobacco is harmful to your health. Tobacco contains over 7,000 toxins and 70 known carcinogens (chemicals that increase cancer r..
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Smoking usually helps smokers relax on a short-term basis. But, it comes at a huge price in the long-term. Smoking results in addiction and anxiety. It alters the brain chemistry and can increase the risk of stroke.
Smoking usually helps smokers relax on a short-term basis. But, it comes at a huge price in the long-term. Smoking results in addiction and anxiety. It alters the brain chemistry and can increase the..
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Cancer of mouth and throat is common among smokers. In addition, smoking can also result in gum disease, premature tooth loss, discolouration of teeth, etc.
Cancer of mouth and throat is common among smokers. In addition, smoking can also result in gum disease, premature tooth loss, discolouration of teeth, etc.
Lung cancer, one of the leading causes of death in the world, develops due to smoking. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease which causes difficulty in breathing is another common cause of death among smokers. Chronic Bronchitis, the inflammation of the bronchial tubes which also results in difficulty in breathing, is caused primarily due to smoking.
Smoking also increases the risk of other infections like pneumonia, tuberculosis, etc.
Lung cancer, one of the leading causes of death in the world, develops due to smoking. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease which causes difficulty in breathing is another common cause of death amon..
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Smoking is one of the leading causes for heart diseases. Regular smokers, as well as second-hand/passive smokers, are at high risk of heart disease.
Tobacco also contributes to heart conditions by reducing the good cholesterol (HDL) and increasing the bad cholesterol (LDL and Triglycerides) in the body.
Smoking is one of the leading causes for heart diseases. Regular smokers, as well as second-hand/passive smokers, are at high risk of heart disease.
Tobacco also contributes to heart conditions by r..
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In men, smoking can result in abnormality of sperm, impotence, erectile dysfunction and prostate cancer.
In women, smoking can result in infertility, miscarriage, early menopause, and cervical and ovarian cancer.
Smoking can impact the future generation, and can lead to physical deformities and sudden infant deaths.
In men, smoking can result in abnormality of sperm, impotence, erectile dysfunction and prostate cancer.
In women, smoking can result in infertility, miscarriage, early menopause, and cervical and ..
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Smoking increases the risk of eye-related problems like stinging, excessive tearing, glaucoma and cataract. It can result in partial or total blindness if untreated.
Smoking increases the risk of eye-related problems like stinging, excessive tearing, glaucoma and cataract. It can result in partial or total blindness if untreated.
The kidney's main function is to clear the toxic wastes from our body. But, smoking does exactly the opposite.
It increases the chances of kidney failure, bladder cancer and other urinary tract-related problems.
The kidney's main function is to clear the toxic wastes from our body. But, smoking does exactly the opposite.
It increases the chances of kidney failure, bladder cancer and other urinary tract-rela..
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Bones provide structure to the body. Due to the toxins present in tobacco, smoking can result in osteoporosis (weakening of the bones), increasing the risk of hip fracture, spine-related problems, bone marrow cancer and also rheumatoid arthritis.
In addition to the above-mentioned problems, tobacco can also result in premature ageing, hair loss, weak immunity etc.
Bones provide structure to the body. Due to the toxins present in tobacco, smoking can result in osteoporosis (weakening of the bones), increasing the risk of hip fracture, spine-related problems, bo..
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Smoking reduces appetite. It prevents adequate nutrition to the body which makes the body weak. It can also up the insulin resistance of the body which makes people susceptible to type 2 diabetes. It also has a negative impact on the liver and intestine, and can increase the risk of ulcers in the stomach and intestine.
Smoking reduces appetite. It prevents adequate nutrition to the body which makes the body weak. It can also up the insulin resistance of the body which makes people susceptible to type 2 diabetes. It..
Life after stroke Suffering a stroke might cause significant physical and mental challenge. The impact it might have on individual and the type of support required will vary from an individual to another. For most stroke survivors, caregivers and families, life will be different. Sometimes the hardest part of having a stroke is the feeling that the patient is alone. Accepting and adjusting to life after stroke is fundamental to your recovery and well-being. Strong determination and resilience of stroke survivors and care givers can build on things that stroke cannot take away.
Rehabilitation is about getting back to normal life and living as independent a life as possible. It involves taking an active approach to ensure that your life goes on. This can mean learning new skills or relearning old ones. It may involve adapting to new limitations and post-stroke conditions. Or it can mean finding new social, emotional, and practical support to live your best life post-stroke.
With good care and rehabilitation, there is life after stroke.
(Dr Lokesh B is Consultant of Neurology and Dr Santhosh NU is Consultant of Neurosurgery & Endovascular Neurosurgery at Aster CMI Hospital)
(Any and all the information provided in the article are for general overview and educational purposes only. Recipients of this article taking any decisions and acting or omitting to act based on the information contained in the article shall be doing it purely at their own risk and discretion and are advised to seek professional advice.)
Next Horizon Of Science: AI To Diagnose Brain Haemorrhage, Spacecraft For Intergalactic Travel
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From AI that can diagnose stroke to scientists taking antimatter for a truck ride, here’s everything exciting about technologies that are going to shape our future. (Text: Rajarshi Bhattacharjee)
From AI that can diagnose stroke to scientists taking antimatter for a truck ride, here’s everything exciting about technologies that are going to shape our future. (Text: Rajarshi Bhattacharjee)
Hate carbon dioxide for heating up the planet? Switzerland has a giant machine that sucks carbon dioxide from air and performs better than plants. In essence, it’s a gigantic artificial tree. Zurichbased Climeworks AG is the world’s first ever commercial plant that can capture CO2 from the air on an industrial level. The amount (900 tonnes) of carbon dioxide the plant draws annually is approximately the same as the amount emitted by 200 cars in the same time.
(Image: www.climeworks.com)
Hate carbon dioxide for heating up the planet? Switzerland has a giant machine that sucks carbon dioxide from air and performs better than plants. In essence, it’s a gigantic artificial tree. Zurich..
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Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in US have developed an artificial intelligence platform that can identify disease in brain CT scans in 1.2 seconds, and diagnose a range of acute neurological illnesses, such as stroke, and haemorrhage. The study shows that the system was faster than human diagnosis. This is the first study to utilise AI for detecting acute neurologic events and demonstrate a direct clinical application.
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(Image: www.lexus.co.uk)
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The most dense, solidstate memory in history is here. It could soon exceed the capabilities of current hard drives by 1,000 times. Scientists at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada say they can use hydrogen atoms to boost storage capacity. They were able to reach a storage density of 128TB per square inch. That’s much ahead of current 10TB hard disks which have approximately 512GB per square inch.
(Image: www.ualberta.ca)
The most dense, solidstate memory in history is here. It could soon exceed the capabilities of current hard drives by 1,000 times. Scientists at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada say the..
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We know antimatter is highly volatile — when it comes into contact with matter, the two annihilate each other. However, physicists at CERN in Switzerland have learned to control it so well that they are now preparing to transport antimatter by truck and then use it to study the strange behaviour of rare radioactive nuclei.
(Image: Julien Marius Ordan-CERN - https://home.cern)
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(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
