Abstract
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death in the world, affecting mostly the aging population. Stroke occurs when brain cells fail to receive a sufficient supply of oxygen, which leads to their dysfunction and death. There are two types of stroke, which are hemorrhagic and ischemic strokes. The former is associated with bleeding, which reduces the flow of blood to brain cells, and the latter is associated with poor flow of blood in the brain. Stroke has many signs and symptoms, including headache, numbness, challenges with speech and understanding others, fatigue, difficulty walking, pain, and trouble seeing. Headaches related to stroke may be experienced in the forehead or back part of the head, with the former being a result of a stroke that starts within the carotid artery and the latter being a result of conditions starting in the vertebra-basilar system. Numbness in a stroke patient is related to the destruction of brain parts that are responsible for managing information from the skin. Numbness happens in one side of the body and may affect the arms, legs, and face. Stroke may affect the parts of the brain that facilitate memory and thinking, making individuals have challenges thinking and speaking. The risk of stroke may be increased by old age, race, family history, medical conditions, unhealthy lifestyles, and use of birth control medications.
Physiological Changes of Stroke and its Frequency in the US Population
Stroke is a health issue that results from poor flow of blood to the brain, leading to dysfunction or death of essential cells. Stroke causes essential parts of the brain to have abnormal functioning, and it is of two types. The first type of condition is ischemic stroke, which occurs as a result of poor blood flow in the brain, and the second type is hemorrhagic, which happens due to bleeding. Statistics indicate that about 795,000 individuals in the US suffer from stroke, with 87% of the cases being ischemic stroke (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). There are many physiological changes associated with stroke, including muscle weakness, reduced sensation, spasticity, and foot drop.
Signs and Symptoms of Stroke
One of the signs of stroke is severe headache, which happens as a result of the sudden changes in the brain functioning due to disruption of blood flow. Headache related to stroke may be experienced in two different parts of the head whereby strokes whose initial point is the vertebra-basilar system cause a headache at the back part of the head, and those that start at the carotid artery lead to a headache at the forehead (Soto-Cámara et al., 2020). The second symptom of stroke is numbness and paralysis in the leg, face, or arm, which affects one side of the body. Numbness occurs as a result of the brain’s inability to process the skin’s sensory information. Some of the parts of the brain responsible for regulating sensation that may be affected by stroke are the parietal lobe, thalamus, and occipital lobe. Another symptom of a stroke is challenges understanding others and speaking due to confusion. Challenges communicating or understanding others result from the death of brain cells that are responsible for problem-solving, memory, and thinking which include the prefrontal cortex, cerebral cortex, hippocampus, Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area and neurons. Other signs and symptoms of stroke include trouble seeing, walking difficulties, fatigue, and pain (Soto-Cámara et al., 2020).
Risk Factors of Stroke and whether they are Modifiable
One of the risk factors associated with stroke is age, whereby aging individuals are at an increased risk of suffering from the condition because old individuals are at an increased risk of suffering from heart complications that may affect the flow of blood to the brain (Alves et al., 2020). the risk factor of age is not modifiable; however, individuals can engage in healthy lifestyles to avoid conditions that may trigger stroke. The second risk factor for stroke is family history of the condition and genetics. The risk of individuals suffering from stroke is high if one of their parents or family members has suffered from the condition in the past. Another risk factor of the condition is medical conditions such as kidney disease, migraine headaches, high blood pressure, and diabetes, which lead to stroke by affecting the normal flow of blood to the brain.
Furthermore, unhealthy lifestyles can increase the risk of stroke, including cigarette smoking and intake of excess fats, which may interfere with the normal functioning of the heart, leading to an insufficient supply of oxygen to brain cells (Murphy & Werring, 2020). Individuals are in a position to modify their lifestyle behaviors to prevent the risk of stroke, with some of the corrective behaviors being the reduction of calorie intake, exercising, and stopping smoking. Besides, race may increase the risk of stroke, whereby Hispanics and African Americans are at an increased risk of suffering from stroke due to healthcare disparities and unhealthy lifestyles among most members of such communities. Lastly, the use of birth control medications that boost estrogen may increase the risk of stroke, making it important for individuals to choose their preferred birth control peals with caution.
References
Alves, M., Rodrigues, A., Cossutta, F., Freitas, P., Cruz, J., Rocha, M., & Fonseca, T. (2020). Atrial Fibrillation Screening in Elderly Patients with Risk Factors for Stroke. The Value of Prolonged Cardiac Monitoring. Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine, 4(1), 21-27.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, May 4). Stroke facts. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/stroke/facts.htm
Murphy, S. J., & Werring, D. J. (2020). Stroke: causes and clinical features. Medicine, 48(9), 561–566.
Soto-Cámara, R., González-Bernal, J. J., González-Santos, J., Aguilar-Parra, J. M., Trigueros, R., & López-Liria, R. (2020). Knowledge of signs and risk factors in stroke patients. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 9(8), 2557.
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