Stroke & its Types Essay Sample
Stroke also called “cerebrovascular accidents are the leading cause of disability and the third cause of death in the United States” (McCance & Huether 2015). It is a neurological condition characterized by focal neurologic deficits lasting more than 24 hours if it is less than 24 hours it is diagnosed as a transient ischemic attack.Stroke & its Types Essay Sample
There are two main types of stroke which are an ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemic stroke arises as a result of an occlusion of a blood vessel to the brain. It could be classified as either thrombotic or embolic. Thrombotic stroke “arise from arterial occlusion caused by thrombi formation in arteries supplying the brain or intracranial vessels” (McCance & Huether, 2015. p.389). It can be caused most often by atherosclerosis or inflammatory disease of the arteries; other causes could include hyper-coagulation, dehydration, and others (McCance & Huether 2015). In this situation, atherosclerotic plaques form at branches of the arteries that supply the brain. Over the years the plaques grow bigger and cause stenosis of the arteries. Therefore as blood tries to move through these stenosed arteries, the plaques peel off leaving an ulcer, platelets. Then, fibrin adheres to these areas forming a clot/thrombus, which then gradually and eventually occludes the artery preventing blood supply to the region of the brain supplied by the occluded artery.Stroke & its Types Essay Sample An Embolic stroke involves “fragments that break from a thrombus formed outside the brain or in the heart” (McCance & Huether 2015. p.389) and travels up to obstruct the tiny brain vessels. Hemorrhagic stroke, on the other hand, arises as a result of hemorrhage into the brain. It is caused mainly by hypertension, ruptured aneurysms or malformations (McCance & Huether 2015). Bleeding into the brain displaces and compresses adjacent brain tissue leading to ischemia and loss of neurologic function. Clinical presentation of both hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke differ slightly, a patient with hemorrhagic stroke especially if it is subarachnoid could complain that he or she has the ‘worst headache of his or her life’ and depending on the amount of bleeding the patient could go straight into a coma.
Other symptoms of hemiplegia, aphasia, hemiparesis, and others are more commonly associated with ischemic stroke. Treatment of ischemic stroke is by giving anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy, that inhibits platelet aggregation thereby preventing the formation of thrombus, hemorrhagic stroke is focused on stopping the bleeding, this could be done by drainage of the blood or drugs to reduce hypertension. In recent researches, the use of endovascular thrombectomy within 6-16 hours have reduced disability of stroke sufferers.Stroke & its Types Essay Sample
A herniated disk is the “displacement of a disk material (nucleus pulposus or the annulus fibrosus) beyond the intervertebral disk” (McCance & Huether, 2015 p.388). Trauma or degenerative disk disease usually cause it. Risk factors include weight-bearing sports, specific work activities (McCance & Huether, 2015). This occurs when the posterior ligament of the disk tears allowing the annulus fibrosus pass through from the intervertebral spaces and compress the nearby nerve. An uncle of mine presented with this condition always complaining of pains in his thigh, especially when he is coughing or sneezing, saying he cannot feel touch along his legs and foot and its pretty consistent with what I know about the herniated intervertebral disk.
References
Huether, S.E & McCance, K.L (2015). Understanding Pathophysiology. Utah. Elsevier.Stroke & its Types Essay Sample