Symptoms of stroke in middle-aged women

Content

What is a stroke?
Complications after a stroke

• Paralysis
• Coma
• Brain swelling
• Aphasia
• Loss of coordination
• Apraxia of walking
• Relapse of the disease - why does it happen?

Who can have a stroke? Predisposing factors

• The main distinguishing features of female attacks
• In men

Precursors of stroke

The main thing is to see a doctor in time

Drugs for stroke

What is a stroke?

The disease is an acute circulatory disorder in the human brain. The attack develops rapidly. It takes from a few minutes to several hours for a person to be seriously injured - sometimes irreversibly. Doctors call the limit of providing effective assistance a time period of 6 hours. After this, the patient will no longer be able to recover if he survives. The consequences of a stroke are the death of brain cells due to oxygen starvation.

The two most common types of stroke are:

• By ischemic type (ischemic) – occupies a share of 75%. The peculiarity of this pathology is blockage of blood vessels or their compression. Damage occurs as a result of the presence of embolism, thrombosis and some other pathologies of the blood, blood vessels, and heart. Mortality rate is up to 15%.
• By hemorrhagic type (hemorrhagic) - occurs in 20-25% of cases. In this type of stroke, blood vessels rupture and bleeding occurs in the brain. Mortality rate – up to 35%.

Very rarely (up to 7% of cases) subarachnoid hemorrhage occurs. Its causes are traumatic brain injury or rupture of an arterial aneurysm (also due to trauma to the patient). In this case, the hemorrhage is directed into the space between the soft and arachnoid membranes of the brain. As a result of such a “blow”, more than half of the victims die.

You can undergo an examination in our clinic at the address: St. Petersburg, st. Bolshaya Raznochinnaya, 27 metro station Chkalovskaya

When is surgery needed?

After brain surgery, complications often arise. Sometimes, the patient may die right on the operating table.

The operation is carried out for the following reasons:

• The appearance of cerebral edema.
• The appearance of a hematoma in the area of ​​the cerebral cortex.
• The comatose state lasts more than 6 hours.
• An abnormality of the blood vessels of the brain, which is accompanied by bleeding.

A thorough examination allows you to determine what type of stroke occurred - ischemic or hemorrhagic. Surgical intervention is carried out only after an accurate diagnosis has been made.

In case of ischemic stroke, surgical intervention is performed only if taking medications does not produce the desired effect.

Surgical intervention for this type of stroke can be of the following types:

• Selective thrombolysis. The essence of this intervention is to inject the drug into the blood vessels of the brain. This drug dissolves blood clots.
• Carotid endarterectomy . During surgery, the wall of the carotid artery is removed. This type of intervention occurs under local anesthesia.

For hemorrhagic stroke, surgeons perform the following operations:

• Trepanation of the skull. This type of surgery can reduce the likelihood of patient death by up to 30%.
• If there is a risk of coma, a small part of the skull may be removed. If after the intervention, the patient’s condition has improved, then the operation is performed again.
• Aneurysm clipping. The essence of the operation is to attach a clip to the neck of the aneurysm. The clip remains inside the skull and can prevent recurrence of the stroke.

In case of stroke, surgical intervention is not always possible.

There are a number of contraindications in which you will have to refrain from surgery:

• The patient's age is 70 years or more.
• Mental illnesses.
• Increased sugar.
• Liver failure.
• Less than 6 months passed between the heart attack and stroke.
• Heart failure.
• Coma.
• Unstable angina.
• Poor blood clotting.

Complications after a stroke

Paralysis

This complication occurs when the motor center is involved in the pathological process. Most often, hemorrhage occurs in the left hemisphere of the brain, as a result of which the right side of the body is “taken away”. Paralysis can also be left-sided. As a result, the patient cannot contract muscles or make any movements. At the same time, behavior and perception of the surrounding world differ in patients with right- or left-sided paralysis. Often there is a mental disorder (excessive aggression, for example) or thinking.

Coma

This condition can last from several hours to several years. Coma occurs due to damage to the cortex and subcortical substance of the brain, as a result of which all signals are inhibited. In a coma, the patient's breathing and cardiac function are depressed, he is unconscious, and his reflexes are impaired. Some fall into a coma quickly, while others gradually. In the second case, within a few hours:

• the patient yawns frequently;
• general fatigue and malaise are felt;
• pulse changes;
• the body goes numb;
• coordination of movements is impaired;
• limbs lose sensitivity and mobility;
• there is a disturbance of consciousness;
• breathing activity becomes superficial.

Brain swelling

One of the most dangerous manifestations of a stroke. Symptoms include: convulsions coupled with psychomotor excitability, headache, nausea and vomiting against the background of increased intracranial pressure.

Edema is divided into two types:

• Cytotoxic. Brain cells swell due to a lack of oxygen and adenosine triphosphate. As a result, membrane pumps do not work properly, sodium ions penetrate into the cells, and water accumulates.
• Associated with impaired outflow of intercellular and interstitial fluids, as well as blood. Occurs when capillaries are damaged.

Aphasia

Impaired speech and writing ability. May include an inability to understand what others are saying, slow speech, and difficulty remembering and writing.

Loss of coordination

During a stroke, muscle tone and coordination of movements are impaired. As a result, a person cannot move without assistance. The muscles also spasm, as a result of which the patient’s actions are even more difficult, since he is forced to overcome the resistance of his own body.

Apraxia of walking

A person can take steps, but in general the process of walking cannot be controlled.

Relapse of the disease, why does it happen?

Provoking factors for the second and subsequent attacks are atherosclerosis, hypertension, thrombosis, abnormal vascular structure, and diabetes. In addition, patients often harm themselves. Having overcome the first difficulties, they neglect to visit the doctor and follow his recommendations. Many people return to bad habits and do not treat associated pathologies.

Recovery time

A stroke, the symptoms and first signs of which were discussed above, has different recovery periods. For women, the period can last from a couple of months to several years.

In case of ischemic stroke, if there are no serious impairments of memory or vision, and if the patient is not of advanced age, then after at least 5 months the recovery can be completed (subject to a professional approach).

A completely different picture occurs with hemorrhagic stroke. The patient’s recovery may take from 6 months to 1.5 years. With a hemorrhagic stroke, blood vessels rupture - this is the reason for such a long recovery. The recovery time can always be accelerated.

To do this, it is important to follow a few simple but very important rules:

• Complete smoking cessation.

• Avoid stress.
• Go on a diet.
• Visit specialists on time and take all necessary medications.
• Complete abstinence from alcohol.
• Do gymnastics under the supervision of a specialist.
• Find an incentive for a speedy recovery.

Who can have a stroke? Predisposing factors

It is generally accepted that stroke occurs only in older people. However, in recent decades the disease has been rapidly becoming younger. An attack can occur as early as 40 years of age or even earlier.

Main risk factors:

• disturbances in sleep and nutrition when entering a “dangerous” age – over 50 years;
• hypertension;
• chronic heart disease;
• high stress loads at work;
• smoking and alcohol abuse;
• temporary, rapidly passing ischemic attacks;
• high blood cholesterol levels;
• obesity;
• diabetes mellitus (it increases the likelihood of not only the first, but also a second stroke);
• hereditary factor;
• lack of timely hospitalization during an attack and lack of qualified medical care in municipal hospitals;
• trauma (the rarest cause of stroke)

However, symptoms and causes differ between women and men.

The main distinguishing features of female attacks:

• the predominance of the disease is of the hemorrhagic type;
• very long and difficult recovery of functions;
• high mortality;
• high loads on blood vessels during pregnancy;
• Among the main causes are migraines, headaches, and great stress;
• it’s easier to see the first symptoms of an approaching “blow”;
• One of the provoking factors is taking oral contraceptives.

The most pronounced symptoms in women include: weakness, slowness of movement, shortness of breath, wheezing, increased heart rate, blurred vision, double vision, fainting, impaired hearing, pain on one side of the face and body, and unbearable headache.

In men

The main risk factors are impaired blood circulation, blockage of blood vessels, rupture of arteries with subsequent hemorrhage, blood thickening due to various diseases, obesity, diabetes mellitus, lack of physical activity, poor diet and eating disorders, bad habits, severe physical activity, vegetative-vascular dystonia, hypertension .

The main signs of a stroke in men may appear periodically, but go away over time. In this situation, the most dangerous thing is to decide that the trouble is over. After all, most likely, these are just transient ischemic attacks, signaling the approach of a stroke.

With the ischemic type, a man may feel dizziness, severe headache (it cannot be relieved by painkillers), weakness, decreased sensitivity in the limbs and numbness, short-term fainting, and vomiting.

A hemorrhagic attack is expressed by loss of consciousness, a sharp increase in pressure, the face becomes very red, noises are heard when breathing, facial asymmetry is noticeable, and vomiting occurs.

Rehabilitation: description of methods

With ischemic stroke, the recovery time is shorter than with hemorrhagic stroke. For hemorrhagic stroke, treatment begins after 14-21 days, for ischemic stroke - after 1 week.

Recovery is carried out in accordance with the rehabilitation program. The doctor compiles it individually for each patient.

When compiling it, the following is taken into account:

• Severity of the disease.
• Character of the stroke.
• Patient's age.
• Serious cognitive impairment.
• Severity of neurological deficit.

During treatment, specialists need to achieve the following goals:

• Walking training.
• Overcoming high muscle tone.
• Patient activation.
• Reduced spasticity.

First of all, work begins to restore the woman’s motor functions. For these purposes, massage and exercises may be prescribed.

If a woman is diagnosed with lower limb paresis, learning to imitate walking begins. These classes are conducted lying down and sitting. Over time, the patient is taught to get out of bed and sit down independently. At first, the patient performs the exercises together with the nurse, then, after some time, the woman performs the exercises herself.

Precursors of stroke

Symptoms before an attack appear within a few days. However, many do not pay attention to them, because the signs of an impending stroke disappear on their own.

How to recognize the proximity of a “blow”? The most important harbingers:

• headaches that appear suddenly and go away quickly;
• weakness unexpected for a person;
• causeless nausea;
• short-term dizziness;
• frequent mood changes.

You also need to pay attention to symptoms such as:

• visual and hearing impairments;
• slow pulse;
• numbness of the limb;
• flushes of blood to the face;
• disturbance of speech function or coordination of movements;
• severe sweating.

If you have these symptoms, you should immediately consult a doctor, as it is still possible to prevent a stroke.

Within 3 hours from the moment of formation of a brain lesion, acute manifestations of a close “impact” occur:

• difficulty swallowing;
• unbearable headache that leads to fainting;
• severe dizziness;
• vomit;
• convulsions;
• breathing problems;
• tachycardia.

At this stage, the victim requires urgent hospitalization. With timely provision of first aid, the likelihood of severe complications will be reduced.

The main thing is to see a doctor in time

The doctor who treats strokes is a neurologist. He takes part in the restoration of lost mental and physical functions. The main tasks of a specialist when working with patients who have already been discharged from the hospital are secondary prevention, which is aimed at preventing a recurrent attack, as well as drug treatment of the consequences of the “stroke”.

A modern method for diagnosing pathology is ultrasound duplex scanning of neck vessels. An image of the vessel is formed, its patency and structure are displayed. Diagnostics allows timely detection and prevention of vascular diseases, including stroke.

You need to undergo the study if:

• frequent fainting, headaches, dizziness;
• hypertension;
• arrhythmias;
• elevated cholesterol levels;
• traumatic brain injuries;
• sleep, vision and hearing disorders;
• weakened attention, memory loss.

The necessary studies are prescribed by a neurologist. Based on diagnostic data, treatment is prescribed, which varies depending on the type of stroke.

Our clinic address: St. Petersburg, st. Bolshaya Raznochinnaya, 27 metro station Chkalovskaya