Job Hazards

Stroke

When blood flow to a region of the brain is cut off or a blood vessel ruptures and spills blood into the crevices between brain cells, a stroke has occurred. Once the oxygen supply and nutrients carried in the bloodstream have been depleted or blood seeps into the brain, brain cells die.

Stroke Symptoms and Types

Signs of a stroke include:

• Unexpected numbness or loss of strength, specifically on one side of the body
• Sudden incoherency or difficulty speaking or comprehending speech
• Abrupt deterioration of eyesight in one or both eyes
• Problems walking, vertigo, or loss of balance or motor skills
• Inexplicable excruciating headache

There are two types of strokes:

• Ischemic stroke: Involves a clogged blood vessel supplying the brain.
• Hemorrhagic stroke: Involves bleeding into or around the brain.

Stroke Treatment

There are three stages to stroke treatment:

• Prevention: Prevention involves developing a plan to minimize the risk factors that can lead to a stroke, such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes.


• Therapy immediately following stroke: This stage of stroke treatment attempts to stop a stroke in its tracks by ridding the clogged artery of any blockage that may have caused an ischemic stroke or by halting the bleeding related to a hemorrhagic stroke.


• Post-stroke rehabilitation: The stage of stroke treatment assists individuals in conquering or dealing with disabilities caused by a stroke. Prescription drugs, particularly antithrombotics and thrombolytics, are the most common form of medications used for stroke treatment.

Outlook for Stroke Victims

Even though a stroke is a brain disorder, it can have an impact on the entire body; oftentimes, stroke victims end up paralyzed on one whole side of the body with a condition called hemiplegia. Hemiparesis is a similar impairment which causes weakness on an entire side of the body, as opposed to paralysis. Stroke victims may also have difficulty with information processing, alertness, attention span, comprehension, decision-making, and recall. In addition, they may have trouble formulating and understanding sentences. Strokes can also contribute to psychological problems where patients may have sudden inappropriate outbursts. Stroke victims frequently suffer from depression as well. Another stroke-related side effect that occurs frequently involves feelings of numbness. Sometimes painful, these sensations are intensified in the hands and feet and are heightened by motion and changes in temperature, especially cold weather. About a quarter of the population who recuperates after their first stroke will have another in the next five years.