Stroke or Paralysis; It is a clinical syndrome consisting of local neurological signs and symptoms that have a sudden or rapid onset and last longer than 24 hours, as a result of occlusion or bleeding of the brain vessels. With an acute onset, they constitute emergencies at any time of the day. It ranks first in terms of incidence among neurological diseases. They cause individual, social and economic problems with the disabilities they cause.
Stroke is the third cause of death in the world and is a group of diseases that has an important place in hospital admissions and health expenditures in industrialized societies. The incidence of stroke more than doubles with every consecutive 10 years after age 55. Epidemiological studies show that the annual incidence of stroke is 150-250/100,000. The incidence of stroke in men is 30% higher than in women. It is observed that stroke increases in winter months.
Strokes due to vascular occlusion constitute 80-90% of all strokes. The incidence of stroke has been decreasing over the last 30-35 years. In parallel with this decrease, a decrease in death rates was also observed. Although stroke-related deaths have decreased, disability rates have remained stable and possibly even increased.
Stroke is not accidental but is the end result of events set in motion years before the disease occurs. However, there are also a certain amount of unexplained strokes.
In Stroke; Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart diseases and transient cerebrovascular occlusion attack (TIA) are important risk factors. Obesity, alcoholism, smoking, substance use, lack of exercise, sedentary life, emotional stress and birth control drug use are other risk factors. In addition, many studies in the past have shown that genetic effects, as well as environmental factors, have a place in the development of stroke.
The brain is the most sensitive and functional organ of our body, there are more than 100 billion nerve cells and each has approximately 10,000 neurons. is linked to. Its need for blood circulation is incomparably greater than any other organ. Even though it is 1/50 of its body weight, it uses approximately 1/5 of the blood pumped from the heart. Brain tissue, which has a very high metabolism, is deprived of oxygen and glucose. Since it cannot store trump card, it requires an uninterrupted supply of these two substances.
Cerebral vascular occlusion; It occurs either due to occlusion of the cerebral vessels by atherosclerosis, or as a result of occlusion of the cerebral vessels by a clot. The cause of brain hemorrhage is usually hypertension and accompanying atherosclerosis, that is, arteriosclerosis. Varying degrees of paralysis are the classic and most common finding of all strokes. Other common neurological findings include; These are consciousness disorders, speech and comprehension disorders, difficulty in swallowing, imbalance, gait disorders and epileptic seizures.
In case of a clot in one of the brain vessels, it is very important for patients to come to a well-equipped stroke center within the first 2 hours. Patients can fully recover with clot-dissolving medication given through the arm vein. Patients who are brought to the hospital for more than two hours should receive intravenous treatment when necessary, in addition to drug treatment.
The rehabilitation process should be started as soon as possible to maximize functional recovery.
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