All about the symptoms and treatment of ischemic stroke

Stroke is one of the leading causes of death all over the world. Even if a person survives, he has great chances to remain permanently disabled. Cases of ischemic stroke account for 80% of all statistics for this disease.

• Ischemic stroke: what is it
• Causes
• Reasons to be affected
• Symptoms
• First aid for ischemic stroke
• Treatment
• Preparations
• Surgical intervention
• Rehabilitation at home
• Physiotherapy
• Drugs during rehabilitation
• Diet after a stroke
• Effects
• Ischemic stroke: a prognosis for life
• Prevention of Ischemic Stroke
• Non-drug prevention
• Drug prevention

Ischemic stroke: what is it

Ischemic stroke - acute circulatory disturbance in the brain, it is also called "cerebral infarction", but it should not be confused with myocardial infarction occurring in the heart, having a different nature and leading to other consequences. The process that occurs during a stroke, accompanied by a literal necrosis of the brain and the death of nerve cells in it.

Causes

Often the causes of the stroke remain unclarified, especially if it concerns people under the age of forty. Nevertheless, they can be divided into several groups.

Reasons that can not be influenced:

• floor;
• age;
• heredity.

After forty years the probability of getting sick is much higher than at a young age. Family predisposition also has weight, as scientists have learned.

Interesting statistics exist on the basis of gender. It was found that women are more likely to survive a stroke before age 30 and after 80, and men, on the contrary, in this interval from 30 to 80. The studies took only information about those people who did not have a negative heredity and any notable pathologies that affect the development of a stroke.

Reasons to be affected

All corrected causes of stroke are either neglected diseases, timely cured which can dramatically reduce the likelihood of its occurrence, or harmful habits, which can be abandoned. The main ones are:

• atherosclerosis;
• hypodynamia;
• osteochondrosis of the cervical spine;
• obesity;
• diabetes;
• alcohol abuse and smoking.

All these factors affect the formation of blood clots, increase the burden on the heart and blood vessels or simply interfere with normal blood circulation in the brain.

Important!It is better to start treatment of such diseases at an early stage in time and to abandon bad habits, than to hold out to a seriously corrected stroke.

Symptoms

With the appearance of the first signs of impending stroke, the patient has 3 to 6 hours to consult a doctor and avoid subsequent complications. All symptoms can be divided into several groups.

Symptoms seen by the patient themselves:

1. Sudden numbness in part of the body, part of the face, limbs - arms, legs or just fingers.
2. Severe vertigo, accompanied by loss of control over yourself. It is expressed in the loss of awareness, where a person is, and the ability to speak.
3. Begins to double in the eyes, there are impaired perception.
4. Nausea, headache.

Symptoms, which draw attention to others:

1. A person does not get a smile.
2. The patient can not raise both hands up.
3. Can not stick his tongue out. If it can, it should not be bent to one side.

Important!If any of these symptoms appear, you should immediately go to the doctor, it is better to call an ambulance.

Stroke can manifest itself in any situation, the time of day and the location of a person do not play any role. Therefore, if the patient is at risk, care should be taken when this symptom occurs.

Also, the manifestations of stroke may vary depending on which side of the brain is affected. If the right hemisphere is affected, then paralysis and numbness will be observed on the left side, speech problems will be expressed, the person will become slower and more cautious.

If the left hemisphere is affected, paralysis and numbness will be on the right side of the body, problems with the perception of space will be expressed, the behavior will become rapid and impulsive.

Stem ischemic stroke manifests itself as a paralysis of both upper and lower extremities, rapid impairment of cardiac activity, respiration and loss of consciousness.

With ischemic stroke of the cerebellum there is an acute headache, nausea up to vomiting, involuntary eye movements, instability and inconsistency of movements. This causes cerebellar edema, which squeezes the brain stem, which can lead to coma.

First aid for ischemic stroke

Timely initiation of resuscitation is a pledge that a person will survive and will not get a lifelong disability.

First and foremost, you need to immediately call an ambulance, and in this case you can not pull it. Before the arrival of a doctor, you can perform a number of activities aimed at supporting the patient's condition.

1. The patient should be put on high pillows, the head should be raised above the bed at an angle of at least 30 degrees.
2. It is necessary to ventilate the room in which the patient is.
3. Unbutton the collar and remove the tight clothes from the patient.
4. You can measure the pressure.
5. If the patient is sick, then it is better to turn it on his side, so that vomiting does not get into the respiratory tract.

The ambulance team should be as accurate as possible with the patient: do not make sudden movements, gently place the patient on a stretcher.

In the hospital, first of all doctors exclude migraine attacks or epilepsy, myocardial infarction. Computed tomography, ECG, dopplerography is made, allowing to learn all about the state of the brain and blood vessels.

Treatment

Treatment of the patient depends on the area of ​​the lesion and the patient's condition. In this case, it does not matter in which hemisphere the stroke occurred. When treating it is important to restore normal blood circulation, prevent the death of nerve cells, reduce swelling in the brain, restore breathing. Also important is the prevention of pneumonia, pressure sores, thrombosis, infection and stomach and bowel ulcers that may occur as a result of a stroke.

Preparations

In the treatment of stroke, a whole complex of various drugs is used to help stabilize and improve the patient's condition, to kill the focus of the disease itself and to survive an acute period lasting several days. For example, the hospital will appoint:

1. Activators of plasminogen (Actileze).
2. Enzyme inhibitors (Catopril or Enalopril).
3. Means that dilute blood and interfere with the formation of blood clots (Aspirin, Ticlopidine).
4. Antagonists of glutamate (Glycine).
5. Means that affect the exchange of tissues (Riboxin).
6. Diuretics (Furosemide) and others.

This treatment is mandatory for all patients who underwent ischemic stroke. To specific, not always recommended and suitable means include anticoagulants and thrombolysis, their appointment is always negotiated with a specialist.

Surgical intervention

Surgical treatment is not used in all cases, it is resorted to in exceptional situations, when a thrombus and restore normal blood circulation can only be so. Surgical methods are the removal (recanalization) of a thrombus, angioplasty and a number of other procedures.

Important!In the hospital it is important to comply with all the prescriptions of doctors.

Rehabilitation at home

Rehabilitation of the house is possible, if the brain has not been damaged critically, the doctor allows the patient to deal with himself, under the supervision of people close to him. The recovery process is divided into several stages, depending on the degree of manifestation of the consequences of a stroke.

Physiotherapy

Therapeutic gymnastics will have to be dealt with from the moment of discharge from the hospital to the end of life. Exercises should relieve muscle tone, improve blood circulation, be preventative of pressure sores and contracture, help restore subtle movements.

The program of exercises should be made by the doctor, proceeding from a status of the patient. Over time, lesson plans may change.

Before the exercises you will need to warm up the muscles. This can be done with the help of massage, rubbing, patting, in exceptional cases you can use a warm water bottle. Classes should not cause severe fatigue in the patient.

In stroke, you need a slow smooth transition from complex exercises to simpler ones. This is true for people with bed rest and severe motor disabilities, and for those who are more active.

1. You should start with simple flexing-extension of fingers, hands, and feet, gradually increasing speed and swing. You can perform rotational movements.
2. With persistent paralysis, many devices are used, such as special rigid ridges and langets.
3. It is also important to develop small movements. You can try to pick up small things from the floor or the surface of the table, for example, cubes or matchboxes.
4. Subsequently, you can move on to more complex exercises: squats and torso of the trunk. They should be combined with simple ones, from which a recovery process was initiated.

If a speech was lost due to a stroke, you should also start with a simple one - pronouncing individual sounds and syllables, and only then go on to full reading.

Important!The recovery process can not be rushed, new exercises can be introduced only after consultation of the doctor.

Drugs during rehabilitation

To support the nervous system and damaged neurons, intravenous injections of drugs that can improve brain function and memory are prescribed. These include:

• Nootropil;
• Pyrocetam;
• Lucetsam.

These drugs have a positive effect on restoring a person's valuable thinking and memory. They do not act quickly, they need to be accepted by courses that periodically recur.

Also need drugs that improve blood circulation in the brain, enhance its activity, helping to combat dysfunction. For example:

1. For proper blood supply - drugs based on aspirin, Cavinton, Pentoxifylin.
2. Accelerating metabolism in brain cells - Solcoseryl, Cerascon, Ginko-Fort.
3. Supplement to therapy for the removal of spasms, neural and muscle tension - Glycine, Sirdalud, Adaptol, medicinal teas, for example, based on sage or chamomile.

Important!Independently appoint a patient drugs in any case impossible. This is done only by the attending physician. Relatives of the patient need to monitor the timely use of medications.

Diet after a stroke

After a stroke, you will have to change your diet forever. Food is better divided into small portions, but it is often, at least 3-5 times a day, depending on the needs of the person.

1. You should give up salt, tea, coffee and alcoholic drinks forever.
2. Sweet, too, should now be avoided.
3. In the diet, you must include a large amount of liquid, preferably water or diluted juices and therapeutic phyto-decoctions.
4. Fresh fruit and vegetables, products with a high content of potassium should always be present on the table: dried apricots, nuts, sea kale, lentils and other cereals.
5. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish, nuts, olive oil, are useful.

Compliance with a strict diet will help the body recover faster and avoid depletion of medicines.

Effects

If after a stroke a patient can service himself, his consciousness is normal, he can control his speech and movement, then after an acute phase he is discharged home for further rehabilitation. It includes therapeutic gymnastics, a special diet and a daily routine.

The best prognosis for those who had thrombosis of small vessels, the rest of the same work to restore normal functioning will be harder.

Traces of a stroke often remain for life. In most cases, it is impossible to fully restore the motor activity, the sharpness of thought and the intelligible intelligible speech (if the stroke touched the right hemisphere).

If with the thrombosis of small vessels to fulfill all the recommendations of doctors, then you can return to a full life in full.

Ischemic stroke: a prognosis for life

The prognosis for this disease depends on the site of the lesion, its volume and speed of medical care, but it is mostly unfavorable. Many people do not get a full recovery and return to life, which they led to an acute illness. The main factors affecting the development and severity of the consequences of stroke:

1. The magnitude of the artery of the damaged artery of the brain.
2. Age, physical form of the patient, the presence of other diseases.
3. Speed ​​of care.
4. The location of the infarct and the number of damaged nerve connections.
5. The condition of the patient before the stroke.

For the elderly, respectively, the forecast will be worse than for the young. Recovery will be much harder. Therefore, it is always better to prevent the disease than to deal with its consequences.

Prevention of Ischemic Stroke

Prevention of stroke is easier than treatment and subsequent rehabilitation. First of all, there are things that, abandoning them, you can significantly reduce the risk of being confined to bed.

Non-drug prevention

First, it is the rejection of bad habits - smoking and alcohol, a large number of fatty and sweet foods in the diet.

You should carefully treat your blood pressure, undergo preventive examinations with a cardiologist and neurologist. If there are already chronic diseases that are risk factors for stroke, such as diabetes or arrhythmia, follow them and follow the doctor's recommendations.

Important!Active way of life and playing sports in the absence of contraindications will only be a plus to everything.

Drug prevention

Those who already have signs of ischemia and diseases that directly lead to a stroke need medication.

The simplest is ascorbic acid, available to absolutely everyone. The recommended dose is prescribed exclusively by the doctor after the examination.

There are a number of drugs that do not give rise to blood clots. These include Ticlopidine, Clopidogrel, Dipyridamole. They are usually prescribed after a stroke to prevent repeated manifestations.

Holders of atrial fibrillation and other cardiac disorders, those who already had thrombi within the ventricles of the heart, prescribe indirect anticoagulants for the prevention of stroke. For example, Warfarin.

Important!You can not prescribe for yourself such medicines without evidence and consultation with a doctor.

Observance of simple preventive rules and prescriptions of specialists after the experienced ischemic stroke will help to maintain their health and live a full active life.