You're out to dinner with a friend and he suddenly drops his fork and seems to be having difficulty picking it up. You look up at him and notice that he appears to be grimacing, or making a funny face. You've just been presented with two classic warning signs of a stroke - how do you save your friends life? Stroke, an episode where blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to the brain somehow become blocked, is the number three cause of death in the United States. However, with proper diagnosis and fast medical attention, it is possible to have full stroke recovery, but it can be a long and arduous journey.
There are two types of strokes. The Ischemic stroke is caused by an obstructing blood clot. A Hemorrhagic stroke is caused by a ruptured blood vessel. Both end up preventing blood flow and oxygen to the brain. In the past, strokes were known to be quite debilitating and there was little chance of stroke recovery. Now however, there are ways to prevent strokes or at least lessen the damage.
As an acute, or immediate, treatment for an Ischemic stroke, there have been great successes with clot busting drugs that are administered within three hours of the person's first symptoms. Preventative treatment can consist of taking anti-coagulants, or "blood thinners", surgical removal of blocked blood vessels or an angioplasty. For a hemorrhagic stroke, often times there is surgery to remove the aneurysm causing the problem or a less invasive procedure involving "coils" threaded through arteries to prevent ruptures.
Stroke recovery is possible. Depending on how long it was until treatment was given, the extent of the damage to the brain varies greatly. Typical long term affects from stroke include paralysis, vision problems, loss of speech and memory loss. Physical therapies play a large part in Stroke Recovery but so does maintaining the patients self esteem. Loss of mobility or speech is a very difficult thing to deal with so keeping a positive outlook as much as possible helps the patient "get through the tough times". It's also important for the caregiver to be sure to keep themselves healthy. Providing care and support can "drain the reserves" so to speak. Seek out caregiver support groups whenever possible, share the burden with others if able, promote independence and try to incorporate pre-stroke activities into like for the patient as a way to help transition back to "normalcy".
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