Stroke Essay

What causes the health condition?

A stroke is best described as a brain attack (association, 2014) (association, 2014). A stroke occurs when the vital blood and oxygen supply to the brain is cut off (association, 2014). This happens when a blood clot has travelled to an artery in the brain or a blood vessel in the brain bursts causing an interruption in the blood flow to parts of the brain (association, 2014).

Figure 1 – blood clot and blood vessel rupturing (WebMD , 2005)

What part of the body is affected?

A stroke mainly affects the brain as that is where the problem occurs. Every time a person has a stroke two million brain cells die every minute, this increases the chances of disability, brain damage or even death (association, 2014). However even though the brain is mostly affected, it can cause other serious problems as the brain controls the whole body. It can cause loss of speech, memory, and movement and in more serious cases even paralysis to a side of your body (association, 2014).

Figure 2 the brain which is affected by a stroke (WebMD , 2005)

What does the health condition include?

A stroke includes the deterioration of brain cells as the brain cells die during a stroke which can cause brain damage and disability (association, 2014). There are two types of strokes Ischemic and Haemorrhagic stroke. The Ischemic stroke occurs when an artery in the brain becomes clotted due to a build-up of plaque or fatty deposits on the artery walls. This is the most common stroke as 87% of strokes are Ischemic in the USA. A Haemorrhagic stroke is when a blood vessel in the brain bursts cause 13% of all strokes and 30% of all stroke deaths (association, 2014).

Figure 3 ischemic stroke (WebMD , 2005) ...

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...a health care professional to reduce risk. It is best if all circulatory problems are treated and resolved as quickly as possible as they can block the arteries (association, 2014). You should exercise five times a week and eat a healthy well-balanced diet (association, 2014).

Figure 10 – blood pressure monitor (WebMD , 2005)

Statistics

In South Africa there are about 60 people who die because of stroke a day (steyn, 2007) and in the USA someone dies due to stroke every four minutes (association, 2014). There are approximately 240 strokes per day, 87600 a year in South Africa (steyn, 2007) whereas in USA there are2178 stroke a day, 795000 strokes a year (association, 2014).

Figure 11 pie chart showing the deaths due to cardiovascular disease in the USA (amercian heart association, 2014)

Figure 12 – proportionate mortality of stroke world wide (UCSF, 2011)