Stroke

A stroke is a life-threatening condition that happens when part of your brain doesn’t have enough blood flow. This most commonly happens because of a blocked artery or bleeding in your brain. Without a steady supply of blood, the brain cells in that area start to die from a lack of oxygen.

Causes of stroke: Ischemic strokes and hemorrhagic strokes can happen for many reasons. Ischemic strokes usually happen because of blood clots. These can happen for various reasons, such as:

• Atherosclerosis.
• Clotting disorders.
• Atrial fibrillation (especially when it happens due to sleep apnea).
• Heart defects (atrial septal defect or ventricular septal defect).
• Microvascular ischemic disease

Hemorrhagic strokes can happen for several reasons also, including:

• High blood pressure, especially when you have it for a long time, when it’s very high, or both.
• Brain aneurysms can sometimes lead to hemorrhagic strokes.
• Brain tumors (including cancer).
• Diseases that weaken or cause unusual changes in blood vessels in your brain.

Symptoms of stroke: The symptoms of stroke can involve one or more of the following:

• One-sided weakness or paralysis.
• Aphasia (difficulty with or loss of speaking ability).
• Slurred or garbled speaking (dysarthria).
• Loss of muscle control on one side of your face.
• Sudden loss either partial or total of one or more senses.

• Blurred or double vision (diplopia).
• Loss of coordination or clumsiness (ataxia).
• Dizziness or vertigo.
• Nausea and vomiting.
• Neck stiffness.
• Emotional instability and personality changes.
• Confusion or agitation.
• Seizures.
• Memory loss (amnesia).
• Headaches (usually sudden and severe).
• Passing out or fainting.
• Coma.

Diagnosis of stroke: The most common tests that happen when a healthcare provider suspects a stroke include:

• Computerized tomography (CT) scan.
• Lab blood tests (looking for signs of infections or heart damage, checking clotting ability and blood sugar levels, testing how well kidneys and liver function, etc.).
• Electrocardiogram (abbreviated ECG or EKG) to make sure that a heart issue isn’t the source of the problem.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans.
• Electroencephalogram (EEG), though less common, can rule out seizures or related problems.

Treatment of stroke: One of the most important ways to treat stroke is to help a person recover or adapt to the changes in their brain. That’s especially true when it comes to helping them regain abilities they had before the stroke. Stroke rehabilitation is a major part of recovery for most people who have a stroke. That rehabilitation can take many forms, including:

• Speech therapy: This can help you regain language and speaking abilities and improve your ability to control muscles that help you breathe, eat, drink and swallow.
• Physical therapy: This can help you improve or regain the ability to use your hands, arms, feet and legs. This can also help with balance issues, muscle weakness and more.
• Occupational therapy: This can help retrain your brain so you can go about your activities of daily life. This therapy is especially helpful with improving precise hand movements and muscle control.
• Cognitive therapy: This can be helpful if you’re having memory problems. It can also help if you have difficulty with activities that require focus or concentration that you could do before.

Exercise of stroke: Certain exercises can help people regain mobility, improve cognitive function, improve balance, regain muscle mass, and reduce stress after a stroke. These exercises can focus on the legs, arms, shoulders, core, and more.

Stroke recovery exercises for legs:

• Calf stretch
• Mini squats with support
• Side lying hip flexion
• Standing hip abduction with support

Stroke exercises for balance and core strength:

• Sitting trunk rotations
• Dynamic weight shifts
• Quadruped weight shifts

Stroke exercises for shoulders and arms:

• Shoulder horizontal range of motion
• Resisted supine diagonal shoulder flexion
• Scapular protraction

Stroke exercises for wrists, hands, and fingers:

• Crumpling a piece of paper
• Supported and unsupported reaching and grasping

Effective management of Stroke at Spine Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Centre (SPTRC) in Shyamoli requires teamwork among medical professionals and patients, which in turn improves the patients' quality of life.

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