Types of Stroke
October 6th, 2007 by Aaks
Overview of Stroke
Facts about Stroke
Causes of Stroke
Symptoms of Stroke
Types of Stroke
Diagnosis and Tests of Stroke
Treatment of Stroke
TYPES OF STROKES
Stroke, commonly referred to as brain attack is the third main cause of fatalities in the world, falling only behind cancer and heart attack. A good awareness about stroke can actually not only lessen the number of fatalities occurring daily but also control the occurrence of it. All strokes occur due to the disruption in normal blood flow to the brain cells, and Stroke can be classified by the types of occurrences as…
- Ischemic Strokes
These types of strokes occur when a blood clot or some other such hindering particles are present in the blood vessels and hinder the blood flow in the arteries. Such occurrences amount to more than 80% of all strokes. Thus the normal amount of blood that must flow to the brain is not flowing. This type can be further classified as
i. Thrombotic Strokes
In such type of strokes there is actually a blood clot found in the brain cells, and the arteries carrying blood are blocked and blood is not delivered in the right rate to the brain. The thrombotic strokes amount to more than 50% of all occurrences. The Thrombotic strokes also include a case where the inner walls of arteries are clogged by deposition of fatty acids containing cholesterol. This is sometimes further classified as large vessel thrombosis and small vessel thrombosis (lacuner) depending on whether the larger carotid artery or the other smaller vessels are affected.
ii. Embolic Strokes
The Embolic strokes are more similar to the thrombotic Strokes except the fact that the clots that are causing the disruption are formed somewhere else ad get stuck in the arteries due to their narrow passage.
- Hemorrhagic Strokes
The hemorrhagic strokes are caused by the spilling of blood outside the vessels due to rupture in the walls of the arteries or bursting of blood vessels. The main reasons for such occurrences are hypertension and aneurysms (weak walling of the vessels). This type is also subcategorized as
i. Intracerebral hemorrhage:
The Intracerebral hemorrhage occurs due to the bursting of blood vessels near the brain tissue. The main reason for bursting being severe hypertension, where the blood pressurizes the blood vessels from inside, thus causing the arteries to expand and burst. The cells ahead of the path after burst don’t get blood supply and so the brain malfunctions.
ii. Subarachnoid Hemorrhage:
The subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs due to the bleeding of arteries near the membrane of the brain. This differs from intracerebral hemorrhage because the vessels don’t burst but are ruptured and blood oozes out of them. This is caused by rupture of aneurysm. The arteries near the ruptured area may constrict further, leading more severe damage. This is characterized by a severe piercing headache.
Thus we see that whatever the type of stroke is, the impact is that brain cells gets damaged severely and the result is that something hard to reverse occurs. So it’s best to prevent such a fatal disease, rather than allowing it to develop and trying to restrict it in later stages.
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October 6th, 2007 at 7:29 am
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