What happens in the body during a stroke?
A stroke happens when the blood flow to a part of the brain is blocked. In 90% of people, it will occur on one side, but 10% can happen on both sides, and it’s called a bilateral stroke.
Brain cells start to die because they don’t get oxygen. The effects depend on how extensive the damage is. There are three models of strokes based on the rate of occurrence and severity:
1) The “Minimal Change Disease (MCD) Stroke” is rare. MCD (for short) is a kidney disease characterized by large amounts of protein excreted in the urine.
2) Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA) Occlusion – MCA stroke is common in those over 50 years old with risk factors
3) Total Anterior Circulation Stroke (TACS). The total anterior circulation stroke (TACS) occurs when the brain areas provided by the middle and anterior cerebral arteries are affected simultaneously.
A stroke occurs when there is a lack of blood circulation to the brain. The cells in the brain become starved of oxygen and die off as a result. Those who suffer from a stroke must then work to recover the lost function in their arm, leg, face (depending on where it was located on the brain).
Sudden reversals within your foot might also be caused by stroke and can lead to long-term difficulties like pain or arthritis. It’s necessary to seek medical advice when faced with sudden changes within your foot that seem uncontrollable or out-of-the-ordinary.
Distinguishing Stress from Stroke
Stressing is an emotional response to a problem, while a stroke typically involves damage in the brain due to interruption of its blood supply.
Stress responses include adrenaline production and possible rapid heart rate, shaking from fear or rage. On the other hand, strokes can be indicated by weakness or paralysis on one side of the body; slurred speech, blurry vision; dizziness; nausea or vomiting, drooping mouth or eyelids, unusual behavior or personality change.
Stroke survivors may not be able to speak well. They may have double vision. One eye might not work correctly and may point off to one side. The person’s face might look strange because of a drooping mouth, an ashen skin color that is bluish under his eyes and at the sides of his nose–signs that enough blood has stopped flowing through certain areas near the brain.
Understanding the Link Between Stress and Stroke
Is there a correlation between stress and stroke? A stroke results from an interruption in blood supply, or oxygen supply, to the brain. Stress can cause both anxiety and high blood pressure, which are two factors that can contribute to a stroke.
Some people who experience stress manifest it by over-doing things like work or exercise, making them more susceptible to getting a heart attack. Other people might express their stress by smoking, and this also has adverse effects on cardiovascular health. Stress management techniques may help some people do less following these patterns of unhealthy behavior.
It’s widespread for people suffering from high levels of stress to develop chronic diseases such as heart disease. Now, some stroke can be caused by a blood clot becoming lodged in an artery supplying the brain and disrupting blood flow, but it is also now known that various aspects of one’s lifestyle can contribute to a stroke. For example, past research has shown a link between diabetes and stroke risk with underlying common risk factors, including high blood sugar levels and obesity– both of which are signs of chronic stress.
Consequently, many doctors recommend that people struggling with higher-than-normal stress levels find ways to manage their daily stresses better or explore healthier strategies for coping. The process may be difficult at first, but it should help limit one’s risk of stroke in the long term.
As we all know, heart disease is the leading cause of death in America, and people with heart disease are at a higher risk of having a stroke. Now, while some strokes can be caused by an artery clot that blocks blood flow to the brain, other types of stroke result from a blood vessel breaking and bleeding into brain tissue. This is not to be confused with other major head injuries like concussions, which can also cause a stroke in rare cases.