What is Stroke?

Stroke is a medical emergency. You need to call 911 right away if you or someone around you has a stroke.

A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is interrupted, which causes brain cells to die. A stroke can happen when an artery that supplies blood to part of your brain becomes narrowed or blocked by a clot (ischemic stroke) or bursts and spills blood into the brain (hemorrhagic stroke).

Strokes are a leading cause of death and disability in the United States. About 795,000 Americans have a new or recurrent stroke each year. Stroke can occur at any age; however, it is more common in older adults than younger people.

Stroke is a medical emergency that can lead to serious disability or death. It is caused by the sudden blockage of blood flow to the brain. When this happens, brain cells begin to die because they don’t get the oxygen they need.

Strokes are also known as “brain attacks” because they can be fatal if not treated immediately. Some people who survive a stroke are left with long-term disability.

Strokes can occur at any age, but most commonly affect older adults — about one out of every 20 people over 65 years old has a stroke. Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in Canada, accounting for more than 25 percent of all deaths annually.

What are the causes of Stroke?

Strokes are caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain. The condition can be caused by an interruption in the arteries that carry oxygen-rich blood to the brain, or a rupture of an artery inside the brain.

Strokes can also be caused by bleeding into or around the brain. A cerebral hemorrhage can cause a stroke if it occurs in one of the arteries supplying blood to the brain.

About one third of strokes are due to blockages and two thirds are due to bleeding.

In ischemic stroke, a clot blocks blood flow to part of your brain; this type is more common than hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding).

Hemorrhagic strokes account for about 20% of all strokes and 30% of all deaths from stroke; they occur when a weakened blood vessel ruptures and bleeds into surrounding tissue.

How is a Stroke Treated?

Strokes can be treated with medications and surgery. Medications are used to prevent further blood clots, reduce swelling, and help repair damaged brain tissue. Surgery is used to remove the clot or other blockage that caused the stroke. Other treatments may include physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.

Medications

Medications are an important part of stroke treatment because they can help prevent further blood clots or stop bleeding in the brain after a stroke. The most common drugs used to treat strokes are:

Antiplatelet drugs (blood thinners). These drugs include aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix) and prasugrel (Effient). They work by stopping platelets from sticking together, which helps prevent new clots from forming in your arteries.

Anticoagulants (blood thinners). These drugs include warfarin (Coumadin), dabigatran (Pradaxa) and apixaban (Eliquis). They work by making it harder for your body to form clots in your blood vessels. These medications must be monitored closely because too much can cause excessive bleeding.

Stroke Surgery

Stroke surgery is a type of surgery to remove parts of the brain that have been damaged by a stroke.

The risk of having another stroke is high for people who have had one, so doctors may recommend surgery to remove the affected part of the brain.

Surgery may be an option for people who’ve had a hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding in or around the brain) and haven’t improved with other treatments, such as medications or rehabilitation therapy.

Doctors might also recommend surgery if you’ve had an ischemic stroke (blockage of blood flow to part of your brain) and there’s no improvement after several months of treatment with medication and physical therapy.

Endovascular Therapy

Endovascular therapy is a treatment that uses special tools to open blood vessels in the brain or neck. It’s used for people who have had a stroke and have bleeding or a blockage in an artery. The procedure can reduce the amount of time it takes for blood to flow through the blocked artery.

Endovascular therapy is also used to treat people who have had an aneurysm, which is a bulge in a blood vessel.

The goal of endovascular therapy is to restore normal blood flow to areas of the brain affected by stroke or other conditions that cause blood clots.

Endovascular therapy uses small tubes (catheters) inserted into your blood vessels to remove clots that block blood flow to part of your brain. The procedure is done in a hospital operating room by a team of doctors, nurses and technicians under general anesthesia or sedation.

Who Should Consider Endovascular Therapy?

The best candidates for endovascular therapy are people who have had signs of an acute ischemic stroke within 4.5 hours after symptoms start and who have clots located in one of their large vessels (the internal carotid artery or the middle cerebral artery).