Some medical emergencies happen so fast that your only concern is “Will my loved one live?” It’s only when the situation stabilizes that you begin to realize that you’re not even sure what’s going on. You were told, “It was a stroke.” But what is it and what does it mean?

Very simply, it’s a “brain attack.” It occurs when blood flow to your brain stops. Within minutes, brain cells begin to die. The types and degrees of disability that follow a stroke depend upon which area of the brain is damaged. According to Dr. James Rippe, one of the leading authorities on preventive cardiology in the United States, there are three types of strokes:

Types of Stokes:

1. Ischemic—caused when a blood clot travels to the brain and blocks or plugs a blood vessel in the brain.  Without adequate oxygen, that portion of the brain suffers damage or even “dies,” resulting in symptoms such as paralysis or problems with speech, vision or comprehension (depending on what part of the brain was damaged).
2. Hemorrhagic—comes from bleeding in the brain and may be caused by congenital abnormalities, such as aneurysms, or may also come from fragile blood vessels due to high blood pressure. Occasionally it happens during pregnancies because blood vessels are made more fragile due to extra estrogen in the blood stream.
3. Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) or Mini-Strokes—occur when the blood supply to the brain is briefly interrupted by a blood clot. They come and go quickly and their symptoms are like other stroke symptoms, but they just don’t last as long (most disappear within an hour but may last for up to 24 hours). They are often a warning sign for future strokes. 

Article provided by Caring Today magazine and www.caringtoday.com