Stroke is a disease that damages the arteries that lead to and are within the brain. It is ranked as the fifth number that causes death. The reason behind a stroke is that the blood vessel that transports oxygen and nutrients to the brain either becomes a clot or gets ruptured.
Some of the obvious signs of a stroke are struggling to speak or comprehend what the other person is saying, paralysis on the face, arm, or leg, problem in sight, headache, and difficulty in walking.
Hailey Bieber Survived a Stroke
Just a few days ago, model and fashion icon Hailey Bieber informed her Instagram followers that she felt stroke-like symptoms when she was out with her husband at breakfast on Thursday morning. Bieber told her fans on Instagram that a small clot was found in her brain that resulted in a lack of oxygen. Her body passed the clot on its own and was able to recover from it in a few hours. Even though Hailey has recovered from a stroke, these blood clots can lead to a more hazardous ischemic stroke, which consists of most strokes. It is among the young generation that the stroke rates are the highest.
Types of Stroke
Ischemic Stroke – This type of stroke occurs when the flow of blood is hindered by an artery that conveys blood to the brain. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that Ischemic stroke consists of all vast types of strokes.
Transient Ischemic Attacks – They are also called “mini-strokes”. It is a different type of ischemic stroke because it blocks the flow of blood from the brain for a small-time duration, like almost five minutes. Similar to ischemic strokes, they are also caused because of blood clotting.
Despite these attacks lasting for a short time span, transient ischemic alerts people of possible future strokes and is considered to be a medical emergency. As per CDC, more than a third of people who suffered from these did not receive treatment and faced another attack in just a year.
Hemorrhagic Stroke – Hemorrhagic stroke occurs because the artery in the brain either leaks blood or ruptures. This leaked blood exerts pressure on the brain cells and damages them. One experiences this type of stroke due to high blood pressure or aneurysms.
Stroke Is Now More Common amongst Young People
It has been observed that strokes are getting increasingly common amongst young people, in the past 30 years, in Southern states and Midwest. The rates, however, have decreased for people older than 75.
Audrey C. Leasure, lead study author and a medical student at Yale University School of Medicine, stated that the younger populations will be considered for public health interventions, especially where stroke cases have increased. These findings have come from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. The study also stated that the number of stroke cases was 460,000 where two-thirds of them were ischemic.
On average, in 2016, people die of stroke every 3 minutes and 30 seconds, as per the American Heart Association. The main causes of this that were found in the younger and middle-aged people were high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. Some other reasons include heart disease, diabetes, obesity, smoking, and high cholesterol. Chances of stroke increase with age. African Americans are at a higher stake for death and disability as compared to white people.
Signs and Symptoms
The obvious signs of a stroke are many. Look out for any of these symptoms you might have. An unexpected loss of balance or coordination, vision loss in any of the eyes or double vision, face hanging on any side, weakness in the arm or leg, patient stammering, or struggling to form sentences are the biggest signs of a stroke. Waste no time if you face any of these symptoms.
Stroke can happen to anyone and one wouldn’t know the time. It has, however, become common amongst the younger generation. It is now known to you the signs of stroke and you will know what to do in this situation. If you are a parent, look out for your child and make sure they are away from any kind of stress that can cause stroke or any other cardiovascular abnormality.