Post-stroke Seizures

Photo from the Internet Stroke Center

According to the website of the Internet Stroke Center, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest statistics estimated that every year there are about 15 million people who had experienced a stroke. It is also estimated that of these large number of stroke victims, at least 5 million succumb to their stroke and that at least another 5 million people are left with permanent disability.

A stroke victim can be left with one or several disabilities depending on the gravity inflicted by their stroke such as problems with mobility, speech, logic and others can arise after a person experiences a stroke.  These disabilities target certain parts of the body – the face, the upper extremities, the lower extremities, etc.  However, what is not seen by other people is that the stroke has a lasting imprint on the brain of the stroke victim.

Aside from the noticeable disabilities identified another potential problem patients and caregivers should be wary about are seizures and epileptic attacks after their stroke. Among the elderly, experiencing a previous stroke is the usual cause of experiencing a seizure attack in the future.

What are seizures?
The brain works in a systematic way. It receives data from our five senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste), collects these data, analyzes them and then sends out corresponding “reactions” back to our five senses.  However, during a seizure, the electrical activity in the brain becomes disorganized which causes a person’s body to spasm. Instead of giving out the correct message (reactions) to specific body parts, the brain is now causing the body to spasm.

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Signs and Symptoms of a Stroke

There are many instances where people’s lives suddenly change forever — marriage, the birth of a child, the occurrence of an illness and even stroke. These life changing events affect not only the individual but as well as family members and friends.

Statistics:
Around the globe, stroke has claimed numerous lives. In fact in the result of American Heart Association’s (AHA) 2010 Stroke Statistics, 795,000 people are at risk to have experience of their first or recurrent stroke. It has also pointed out a very alarming rate of every 40 seconds an American would suffer from stroke resulting to be the number one cause of serious and long-term disability and the third largest cause of death in the United States. On a lighter note, the AHA also found out that the number of deaths from stroke had actually decreased by as much as 15% between the years 1997 to 2007  and this may denote to the increase of knowledge and improvement of treatment.

Difference between a sign and a symptom:
As seen in the statistics provided by AHA, knowing the signs and symptoms of a stroke may one day save a person’s life. But first let us differentiate between a sign and a symptom. To an average Joe, a sign and symptom can refer to one and the same thing but there is a big difference between the two.

A sign is an objective cue of a disease or an illness. A sign is the physical manifestation of a certain ailment. It is what a doctor sees in a patient and it is a definite indication of a specific disease.

On the other hand, a symptom is a subjective cue of an illness or a disease. It is a characteristic of a certain ailment. In other words, symptoms are what a patient experiences about an injury, illness or a disease.

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Women, Hypertension and Stroke

Women and Hypertension

In the US alone, it is believed that up to 74.5 million people over 20 have high blood pressure. Hypertension is a serious condition: it is the first cause of stroke and is strongly related to other cardiovascular diseases. Figures show that 69% of people with an initial heart attack, 74% of patients who had a stroke and 74% of people with congestive heart failure have blood pressure over 140/90mmHg.

Overall, men and women are as likely to have hypertension. However, after the onset of menopause, women have an increased risk of developing hypertension. The problem surrounding women and hypertension is supported by several studies which were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. The journal detailed how women face unique risks of high blood pressure, as well as the special challenges women must undertake to maintain their blood pressure within acceptable limits.

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