Stroke is a disease that affects the vessels that supply blood to the brain. It is also known as thrombosis, stroke, or cerebrovascular accident, ACV.
It occurs when one of these vessels ruptures or becomes blocked. When it becomes blocked, by a clot or other particle, it leaves a part of the brain without a blood supply and causes the death of nerve cells or neurons. When a rupture of one of the vessels occurs, it triggers a hemorrhage, the severity of which can cause almost instantaneous death.
“If the patient survives, it can cause serious and irreversible neurological damage. He may be unable to speak or move a part of his body for life. It is the third cause of death in our country and one of the most important in terms of functional disability”, affirms the doctor, neurologist of the Medical Center.
According to the specialist, the success of the treatment and the reduction of sequelae depend on whether the patient arrives at the hospital within the first eight hours, ideally if it is within the first four or two hours after the onset of the stroke. The later the consultation is, the chances of treatment are less and sequelae or death are more frequent.
Some patients manage to survive the stroke and are left with mild paralysis on the right or left side of their body and this usually affects, for example, partially the language. With therapies and medications, it is possible to recover the lost ability, but if the medication is interrupted and there is no medical control, the stroke can recur suddenly.
Dr. Carmen Adriana explains that the recurrence of the disease with catastrophic damage is very high, due to lack of control or medical follow-up. According to a study by the Rochester firm, recurrence is 10% in the first year and 20% within 5 years, after the initial stroke. Another similar study found that recurrence in men is 42% within 5 years.
IN THE WORLD AND IN COLOMBIA
In the world it is the third cause of mortality, after heart and cancer, and the main cause of disability or functional loss of neurological origin. It is the one with the greatest economic and social impact, especially when it occurs in functionally and labor-active people.
Cerebrovascular diseases, CVD, in general, are the main causes of death worldwide. In 2000 they produced 31% of all deaths and by the 2010s it will be above 38%, according to the World Health Organization, WHO.
According to the WHO, for every 100 patients who suffer a stroke, 10 die immediately; 15 in the course of the first year and 8 in the course of the second year. In other words, 33% will be dead within the first 2 years.
In Europe they produce 49% of all deaths (55% in women and 43% in men), that is, more than four million deaths per year, while heart attacks cause two million deaths in the same period.
In Colombia, it is estimated that 28% of all deaths are due to CVD, while in the Valley and the southwestern part of the country it is considered these diseases as responsible for 38% of all deaths.
“Our lifestyle has radically changed in recent years. Bad eating habits, a sedentary lifestyle, smoking and stress have increased the prevalence of obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes, which favor the accelerated development of these diseases, increasingly at an earlier age”, indicates Dr. Caballero .
PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT THE DISEASE
An opinion study carried out in Latin America found that in Colombia, 78% of the people interviewed are unaware that cerebrovascular accidents are the main consequence of hypertension, when it is not properly controlled. For specialists, it is even more worrying that 49% of those surveyed did not know what a stroke is.
The survey revealed another worrying fact: 34% of those interviewed stated that they did not have hypertension because “they felt fine and did not have any symptoms.” High blood pressure is the disease known as “the silent killer”, whose main manifestation is the stroke.
Indeed, when asked about the most important consequences of a stroke, only 30% of those interviewed mentioned death.
Men and women over 30 years of age participated in the survey and the objective was to assess the level of knowledge about hypertension in the general public. The methodology consisted of face-to-face interviews with 100 individuals in each country, approached in shopping malls. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru were the countries studied.
ATTENTION TO SYMPTOMS
The symptoms of a Stroke appear suddenly. The patient must be taken immediately to a care center, on whose immediate and adequate management the success of the treatment depends. (See box: “Risk factor’s”)
“Sudden tingling or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body. Sudden confusion, difficulty speaking or understanding, sudden difficulty walking, dizziness, and loss of balance or coordination are warning signs or symptoms that indicate the presence of a stroke,” says the neurologist at the Medical Center.
Likewise, according to the specialist, sudden problems seeing in one or both eyes, sudden headaches with no known cause, can be warning signs to urgently seek medical attention and prevent the stroke from having its most severe effects. lethal.
“With these warning signs, if you suspect that you or another person is suffering a stroke, immediately contact an ambulance service or take the patient to the nearest medical center,” emphasizes Dr. Caballero.
RISK FACTOR’S
A risk factor is a condition that having it increases your chances of getting a disease. Stroke has risk factors that cannot be modified and risk factors that can be modified and reduce the possibility of suffering from cerebrovascular disease.
Non-modifiable risks.
- Age: After age 55, the chance of having a stroke increases and doubles every decade. However, it can also occur in young people.
- Sex: Stroke affects both men and women. However, more than half of deaths from this disease occur in women.
- Heredity and race: The risk of having a stroke is greater if a family member has already had it. Black people are at greater risk of dying from this disease and suffering greater disability than white patients, in part because of the higher incidence of high blood pressure in blacks.
Modifiable Risks.
- Having had a Stroke: having presented a threat of cerebral thrombosis also called a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA), which consists of the temporary loss of brain function, or having already had an established stroke, considerably increase the risk.
- Arterial Hypertension: it is the most important risk factor. Properly controlling high blood pressure figures contributes substantially to reducing the cases of stroke and heart attack.
- Smoking: Cigarettes and their toxic products have been shown to damage blood vessels and increase the chance of having a stroke. If the consumption of oral contraceptives is added to smoking, the risk of suffering a Brain Attack in young women is greatly increased.
- Diabetes Mellitus: this disease constitutes an independent risk for cerebrovascular disease and is frequently associated with obesity, high cholesterol levels, which also increase the aforementioned possibilities.
- Carotid artery disease: this artery is responsible for carrying blood to the brain and its obstruction blocks the entry of blood to the nerve cells. The doctor diagnoses it when he places a stethoscope on his neck and hears an abnormal sound.
- Heart disease: A diseased heart can also affect the brain. A disturbance in the heart’s rhythm called atrial fibrillation particularly increases the risk of having a stroke. Heart attack is one of the common causes of death in stroke survivors.
- Excessive consumption of liquor: alcohol abuse contributes to stroke, especially hemorrhagic.
- Drug addiction: Cocaine use has also been linked to the disease, even when is consumed for the first time.