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A hemorrhagic stroke accounts for a smaller percentage of stroke cases.  A hemorrhagic stroke has to do with pressure on the brain due to increased blood build-up between the brain and the skull.  The compressed tissue is damaged and causes a stroke.  Hemorrhagic stroke can have more than one cause:  AV malformation, aneurysm or accident.

Some people are born with arteriovenous (AV) malformations in the blood vessels.  In the normal circulatory system, veins are joined to arteries via a network of smaller vessels called capillaries.  With AV malformations, you have no network of capillaries between arteries and veins.  The quick flow of blood causes vessel dilation and possible rupture resulting in bleeding on the brain.

An aneurysm occurs when a blood vessel has a weakened area and ballooning occurs when blood passes through.  As the wall continues to get thinner, the vessel eventually ruptures, leaking blood into the brain.

An accident such as a subdural hematoma results in blood leaking from damaged vessels into the spaces under the skull.  The brain is compressed, bodily function is impaired and a stroke occurs.

Before a major stroke occurs there are warning signs.  These are called TIAs or transient ischemic attacks.  A blood clot obstructs a vessel for a short time but with the same effects as if you were having a major stroke.  The symptoms disappear in under 24 hours.

If you have risk factors for a stroke, get medical attention.

When someone suffers a stroke that is only a part of the explanation of what has actually happened to them.  A stroke can have more than one cause.  Know the different kinds of stroke and if they affect you in any way.

The main cause of stroke in humans is ischemic stroke.  Ischemic stroke results in a reduced blood flow or lack of blood flow to a portion of the brain.  The brain tissue begins to die and your bodily function is affected depending on the portion of the brain that dies.

An ischemic stroke is caused by blood clots.  A blood clot blocks a vessel in the brain and blood canít pass by it.  Clots are prone to lodge in an artery at the point where it branches into a smaller vessel.   There are two main ways that a blood clot comes to be stuck in a blood vessel in the brain:  thrombus and embolism.

We touched on blood clots.  When arterial walls become narrowed due to cholesterol plaques, this is called atherosclerosis.  That narrowing due to fatty deposits also attracts platelets that thicken and form clots and block the vessel.  A thrombus is a blood clot that develops in the brain in these vessels.

An embolism is a traveling thrombus.  It can form in any vessel in the body, become dislodged and travel to the brain.  High blood pressure can dislodge a clot and send it careening off through the arterial system where it ends up in the brain.

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But, strokes don’t happen all at once.  Very often there are warning signs that a stroke is in your future.  These “warning signs” are called TIAs or transient ischemic attacks.  Some people refer to them as mini strokes.  For less than 24 hours, you may feel the effects of a stroke.  The symptoms usually subside in 24 hours and you return to normal.

Who is at risk for a stroke?  A family history of stroke may predispose you to that condition.  You canít do anything about your family history, but you can influence the other risks:

* Obesity
* High blood pressure
* High cholesterol
* Diabetes
* Smoking
* Heart disease
* Oral contraceptives (increases risk of blood clots especially in combination with smoking)

Are you at risk for a stroke?  Now that you know what a stroke is and why it happens, you can work to reduce your risk factors for this debilitating condition.

Strokes can affect anyone at anytime.  There are risk factors for a stroke that can be tracked to see how much at risk you really are.  To put to rest any fears you have that you could be the next stroke victim, keep reading to learn about what happens when you have a stroke and also why they occur.

A stroke occurs when an area of the brain is deprived of oxygen.  The brain actually requires 20 percent more oxygen than other tissues in the body.  Without oxygen, the brain tissue begins to die.  Depending on the area of the brain that is affected by the stroke, a stroke victim may lose their sight, control of their voluntary muscles, hearing, sense of taste, language skills and memory.  This covers a lot of ground but the brain controls various functions throughout your entire body.

What causes a stroke to occur in the first place?  Strokes have two main causes:  ischemia and hemorrhage.  Ischemia refers to a lack of blood flow to an area.  Hemorrhage is when there is an abundance of blood in one location.

Ischemic strokes occur when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain totally or partially.  The blood flow is reduced and the brain doesnít get the oxygen it needs.  That part of the brain dies and youíll see notable changes in behavior.  This is the most common cause of a stroke.

Hemorrhagic strokes are caused by pressure on the brain tissue due to bleeding on the brain.  This can happen when someone sustains a blow to the head in an accident.  Subdural hematomas can lead to a hemorrhagic stroke.  The blood will flow through the path of least resistance.  It will fill the spaces between the skull and the brain, compressing the tissue and causing injury to the brain.

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It is hard to deal with becoming a caregiver overnight.  If a loved one has had a stroke, you could possibly be the only one able to tend to their needs.  This could mean full-time care.  Here are ten ways to deal with the new situation for both of you.

1.  Talk to health care professionals.  They will be able to give you all of the answers to physical issues that will arise with your loved one.  Doctors can describe the physical limitations, neurological changes and how and if they will recover from the stroke.  This prepares you for what you will see on a daily basis.

2.  Talk to a social worker.  A social worker can evaluate your loved oneís case and let you know what type of medical support they qualify for.  If you work outside the home, your loved one may qualify for home nursing care and other services like Medicare or Medicaid, wheelchairs and home health supplies and physical therapy.

3.  Find a support group.  In order to get what you need to take care of the myriad of emotions that you and your loved one will experience, join a support group for stroke caregivers.  They can help you to understand your loved one and also yourself in your new role.

4.  Take care of yourself.  Donít neglect your loved one.  Use available resources to carve out time away from your loved one to exercise, meditate, get pampered and talk to others for support.

5.  Know all about medications.  Our loved one will come home with prescriptions from their doctor.  Know dosages, when to give them and side effects.  Staying organized will make pill time easier to handle.

6.  Know about insurance policies.  A thorough knowledge of your loved oneís insurance policy lets you know his or her rights to services.  If you need to supplement policies, you can then apply for assistance from the Federal government in a timely fashion and not at the last minute.

7.  Encourage your loved one.  They may feel like they are trapped inside their own body.  Celebrate each change in their condition or rehabilitation to give them a sense of hope for the future.

8.  Look at the big picture.  It can be depressing thinking of doing the same thing day in and day out for your loved one.  Focus instead on their progress and let a doctor evaluate it.

9.  Pay attention to your loved one.  It is not uncommon for stroke victims to become depressed.  If this starts to happen to your loved one, get help from their doctor and a psychiatrist to get them back on the track to proper mental health.

10.  Make changes to reduce stroke risk factors.  No one wants a stroke to happen again.  Promote a healthy diet, exercise (as much as possible) and check-ups.

It isnít easy becoming a caregiver.  Someone else is depending on you for everything.  Use these tips to keep yourself shored up emotionally as you care for another.

A stroke can be a debilitating condition.  Depending on the severity of the stroke, it can also lead to death.  If intervention is available early on when the stroke occurs, the effects on the brain can be lessened or reversed.  It is important for everyone to know about the signs of a stroke so that they can save a life.

Just like a heart attack, a stroke has signs that one is in progress.  Recognizing those signs will save your life and/or the life of another person.  As an observer, you may notice some signs that trigger your decision to act.  These include:

1.  Loss of balance, trouble walking, or dizziness.  This is a suspicious sign when a person was previously walking fine and suddenly loses their balance for no apparent reason.

2.  Trouble speaking or understanding.  You may be talking to someone and all of a sudden they have a puzzled look as if they don’t comprehend what you are saying or what they may have been doing the moment before.  Slurring speech is a definite sign, especially when no alcohol is involved.

As a stroke victim, you will experience changes in your body that others can’t see.  It is necessary to recognize these signs and communicate that something is wrong while you still have power of speech.

1.  Sudden numbness on one side of the body.  This can affect your arm, face, or leg.  It can cause you to lose your balance.

2.  Trouble seeing.  Vision can become blurry in one or both eyes for no reason.  If you rub your eyes and nothing changes, consider a stroke as the cause.

3.  Severe headache.  Headaches are caused by all sorts of conditions.  A headache not due to stress or in a person not prone to migraine headaches is a cause for concern, especially if other signs of a stroke are present.

If any of these symptoms are noticed by you as the observer or by you as the stroke victim, take the next step.  There are on-the-spot tests you can do to see if a stroke is actually the cause.

* Ask the person to smile.  If there is drooping on one side of the face, a stroke is in progress.
* Ask the person to say a simple sentence.  Slurring the words is a sign of stroke.
* Ask the person to raise their arms.  A numbness or weakness on one side of the body will show when they try to raise the affected arm and cannot raise it at all or raise it as high as the other arm.

Call 911 right away.  Every second counts.  As the stroke progresses, more and more brain cells are being affected.  Tell the emergency personnel that it is a stroke so they can make the proper intervention.

Hello guys!

Summer is around the corner, and for the next week Healthful Goddes is going to dedicate a segment “For The Body” with information about: Tai-Chi, Judo, Akido and Kickboxing!

The first article of “For the Body” is about Tai-Chi, the martial art considered to be a form of meditation. People practicing Tai Chi, also known as “players” learn to emphasize not only slow, deep breathing but rhythmic movements as well. This assists development of a focused and calm mind.

Tai Chi is an enjoyable activity for those of all ages and fitness levels. Each individual can practice the postures and movements in a manner relative to their own level of fitness, energy and state of mind. Each individual starts where they are, and learns at their own pace. It can be beneficial to the fittest athlete, the teenager and everyone in between. You may even find those in wheelchairs as part of a group practicing Tai Chi in the park near your home. You could take part even if you don’t think you could be coordinated or agile enough. These are all aspects you can learn at your own pace.

Traditional Chinese Medicine states that disease results from weak and impaired flow of qi (pronounced chee) through the meridians. There are fourteen main energy meridians which link internal organs and the entire physical body with the mind and emotional systems. These meridians arenít visible; however, you can detect them by the energy which moves through them. With the gentle movements of Tai Chi these energy channels are opened, thereby allowing the rhythm of the movements of the muscles, spine and joint to release energy through the body. This flushes out any stagnant qi, replacing it with fresh qi that is newly oxygenated.

The slow pace of Tai Chi provides the effect of performing a body scan to clear any place where there may be tension building up or stored. By releasing the grip of debris in both mind and body, we allow more space for positive aspects such as love and light to enter our lives. Aside from the meridians Tai Chi uses to work the internal organs, it also clears the joints of any potential debris in those areas, such as calcium deposits. This benefit is a result of the different movements requiring the body to rotate to about 95% of its ability. Tai Chiís health benefits are being quickly discovered in western medicine.
Health and life are simple reflections of our mind state. Body and breath move along with the mind. This encourages cleaning out any roadblocks which normally would keep us from moving forward. These roadblocks keep us locked in emotional and psychological patterns that arenít always healthy. The empowerment of “meditation in motion” can keep us in the train of thought that change itself is a constant in our lives, and new beginnings always follow closures.

Whenever stress and tension start taking their toll on health and well-being, it would be wise to look to those who have attained that level of harmony within the body.  Whether one is seeking to find that silence, relaxation and focus of thought, or if what is wanted is a gentle fitness program to increase flexibility and overall general health, Tai Chi would be an excellent place to start.

Many people are faced with a choice between bypass surgery and stents. Many people think that stents are more minimally invasive, but a growing body of research on the long term success rates of each procedure need to be looked at.

Here is a free Johns Hopkins special report on this topic which you can download as a PDF:
Johns Hopkins Bypass Versus Stents