there are many stroke risk factors

8/7/2019 There Are Many Stroke Risk Factors

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There are many stroke risk factors. Many of the factors are natural or classify as hereditaryfactors. There are many factors that are considered to be preventable because of the fact that

they directly relate to a person's lifestyle choices. If you experience a stroke, you could suffer from a permanent disability.

There are many people that do not live through a stroke. In the United States, strokes are

considered to be the third leading cause of death. It is important that you become familiar with the different stroke risk factors so that you may take the steps necessary to reduce your

chance of suffering from this potentially fatal medical emergency.

Risk Factors That Cannot Be Prevented

As mentioned previously, there are many risk factors that cannot be prevented. The first is

age. Once an individual reaches the age of 55, it has been established that the chance for astroke to occur doubles and continues to increase as they increase in age.

Experiencing a stroke is more likely to occur if someone within the immediate family has

suffered from this type of medical emergency. Your race and your gender also play a role

when it comes your risk for stroke. Individuals that are considered to be African Americanare more likely to experience this medical emergency.

Men are also more likely to experience a stroke than women. In addition to these risk factors,

those that have experienced a stroke in the past as well as those that have experienced a heart

attack or an attack known as a TIA are more likely to experience a severe stroke at least once

in their lives.

Preventable Risk Factors

There are many preventable risk factors that may result in a stroke. In this section, you will

learn about the factors that you may successfully prevent so that you do not experience astroke. If you suffer from these conditions or find that you are at risk for developing a stroke,

it is important that you contact your doctor. They will be able to assist you in overcoming

these factors. The following lists some examples of these preventable risk factors:

1. If you are a smoker, it is important to understand that this could increase your chance of

experiencing a stroke. This is because of the fact that smoking actually damages the

cardiovascular components of the body.

2. If you do not engage in a diet that is considered to be healthy, you are at risk for

developing a stroke. This is especially true if you consume a lot of fat and cholesterol.

3. Being overweight and not exercising in a physical manner could result in the onset of astroke at some point in your life.



Pathophysiology of Ischemic Stroke

An ischemic stroke may be caused by a blood clot that occurs in the affected artery

(thrombosis), a blood clot that traveled from another part of the body (embolism), or a

blockage due to damage to the arterial wall (lacunar infarct). Blockage of a single artery can

often be compensated for by other arteries in the blood vessel network, call collaterals.Artherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), other damage to arteries, and natural variations in

the collateral network can prevent the collateral system from compensating fully. The result

is a loss of perfusion, or blood supply, to an area of the brain (ischemia).

Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs), abnormal tangles of blood vessels in which arteries

flow directly into veins, are another possible cause of ischemic stroke. AVMs can press

directly on brain tissue, blocking blood flow.

Pathophysiology of Hemorrhagic Stroke

The main type of hemorrhage that can lead to stroke is subarachnoid hemorrhage. In this type

of bleed, which usually results from head trauma or a ruptured aneurysm, there isuncontrolled bleeding between the innermost two of the three meninges (membranes lining

the brain), the pia mater and the arachnoid mater.

The blood that pools or collects in a subarachnoid bleed is called a hematoma. Ischemia (lack

of blood flow) from the hematoma is a secondary problem. It is caused by constriction of the

arteries (vasospasm) as a protective response to reduce bleeding. About 25% of patients with

subarachnoid hemorrhages will experience stroke symptoms resulting from secondary

ischemia.

Another common type of brain hemorrhage is an intracerebral hemorrhage, in which an arteryinside the brain tissue fails due to high blood pressure and begins to bleed. It usually results

from hypertension, but other causes of burst intracerebral arteries include various types of

aneurysm, brain tumors, and blood clotting disorders. Symptoms of intracerebral

hemorrhages can mimic symptoms of ischemic stroke, especially for smaller bleeds, but the

two problems have different etiologies and treatments.

Read more: http://www.brighthub.com/health/conditions-

treatments/articles/57961.aspx#ixzz1K2FeSPuI

Clients with Cerebrovascular DiseaseCerebrovascular Accident (CVA)

Commonly known as stroke or brain attack

A condition in which neurologic deficits result from decreased blood

flow to localized area of the brain Neurologic deficits determined by the area of brain involved, size of

affected area, length of time blood flow is decreased or stopped

Major loss of blood supply to brain can cause severe disability or death; if

short or small area involved client may not be aware Pathophysiology

Characterized by gradual, rapid onset of neurologic deficits due to

compromised cerebral blood flow Blood flow and oxygenation of cerebral neurons decreased or



interrupted; changes occur in 4 ± 5 minutes Cells swell and cerebral blood vessels swell decreasing blood flow;

vasospasm and increased blood viscosity further impede blood flow Penumbra is a central core of dead or dying cells surrounded by

band of minimally perfused cells

Cells of the penumbra receives marginal blood flow and their

metabolic activities are impaired

These cells may survive if adequate circulation is re-

established Neurologic deficits occur on opposite side where stroke occurred in

brain: contralateral deficit Causes

Ischemia

Occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is

interrupted or totally occluded Commonly due to thrombosis or embolism �

Thrombotic (large vessel) strokeo

The most common cause of ischemic strokeo

Atherosclerosis is the primary causeo

Fatty materials deposit on large vessel walls (especially at arterial bifurcations) and eventually these

plaques causes stenosis of the artery

o

Blood swirls around the irregular surface of the plaques causing platelets to adhere and the vessel becomes

obstructed

o

These causes infarcts usually affecting thecortexo

Most common type of stroke in people withdiabetes

there are many stroke risk factors

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