It is no secret that the brain is the command center of our body, it is responsible for processing everything internal and external, through perfectly organized circuits, working in milliseconds to respond to everything, even without realizing it.
There is a disease that can affect our brain suddenly, and cause serious problems in our overall functioning, considering that this is the organ that controls everything, and I refer specifically to the Cerebrovascular Accident (ACV), which involves an affectation in the blood flow of a part of this organ, which brings a series of consequences.
Read on if you want to know what this pathology consists of and what are the possible effects that can occur when it occurs.
Of all the organs in our body there is none that has more functions than the brain, therefore, the energy consumption of the brain is immense. Approximately 60-70% of the glucose in our body is used by this organ to produce energy, this amount alone indicates the high dependence it has on both glucose and oxygen, both molecules necessary for the production of ATP (energy molecule of our cells).
Both oxygen and glucose are transported in the blood, and the blood moves through the blood vessels. These are the ones that are affected for a stroke to occur, either because one of them breaks and lets the blood flow to other spaces, preventing it from reaching where it should go (hemorrhage) or because something obstructs the passage of blood to the distal area of the blood vessels producing ischemia.
Based on the origin, two main presentations can be distinguished:
Ischemic stroke is the most common, approximately 80% of the presentation corresponds to this type. It usually occurs due to a clot that has formed and ends up obstructing a cerebral blood vessel, which cuts off the blood supply to the area after the obstruction.
Hemorrhagic stroke, fortunately the least common, is generated when a cerebral blood vessel ruptures and causes a hemorrhage in the brain.
Beyond this great division, there are many types, and they will depend on the brain area that is affected. Obviously, the consequences will also be diverse based on this. But I will not stop to describe each one of them, because it would be really complex to see them all. However, in future publications I will explain each of these major classification (hemorrhagic and ischemic) in more detail, so stay tuned so that you have a better idea and knowledge of each of them.
It is not always easy to diagnose it immediately, since the way in which it can present itself corresponds to symptomatology that is related to various causes, so it is essential to perform Differential Diagnosis with the following diseases:
- Seizure disorder
• Complicated migraine
• Substance intoxication
• Medication toxicity (lithium, phenytoin)
• Hypertensive encephalopathy
• Hypoglycemia
• Subdural hematoma
• Tumour
• Psychiatric and/or conversion disorder
• Meningitis
• Cerebral venous thrombosis
• Brain abscess
• Epidural hematoma
• Viral encephalitis
• Syncope Source
Among others, which makes imaging studies indispensable to make a differential diagnosis.
For both presentations there are characteristics that make a person more prone to suffer from this disease. And it is particularly important to know these characteristics even for oneself, knowing that one has them, to assume changes in their lifestyles that will allow them to avoid its manifestation or at least minimize the possibilities.
At this point I will make a stop to emphasize the importance of a good diet: It is essential to consume what is necessary in terms of nutrients, and above all, avoid sugar, fried foods, fast food of any kind, carbonated beverages, since only this prevents many diseases from occurring and also, that others worsen.
It is not necessary to be a specialist in the nutritional subject, it is enough to have clarity in the necessary basics, and surely with the same money that we invest in our feeding, we can improve a lot in this aspect.
The other factor that conditions the possibility of having a stroke is increasing age. On the one hand, this predisposes to other underlying diseases such as heart or vascular disease, or both; additionally, the blood vessels, especially the arteries, become weaker, which makes older people more prone to stroke.4
The diabetes causes all values to be altered, glycemia, blood pressure, affects the kidneys, the heart, and all this predisposes to a stroke.
If a person has heart disease it is a condition that should always be kept in mind as a possible cause of a CAV.
There are other risk factors such as having family members with a history of having suffered from this disease, which makes it very important that we can obtain data from family members to find out if this has happened in the family.
In general what we can see is a disease in which by hemorrhage or ischemia of an area of the brain, there will be consequences, which will depend on the area that is affected. We can see recurrently a great affectation in the motility, even the person loses the coordination and in opportunities the possibility of walking adequately.
There are also those in whom a disability to speak becomes evident, or at least to do it properly. And the worst outcome is the death of the person, especially when it occurs in a hemorrhagic form.
More specific details of this disease depending on the type in the next publications, do not fail to follow them.
Thank you very much for reading this publication, happy weekend.
