Brain Stroke

Hi,

 To all my friends, concern patients, whoever have the disease. Today I am Dr. Vineet Varghese a neuro and spine surgeon practicing in Delhi will speak to you about stroke. Stroke with relation to the brain. Stroke is a condition that affects the brain in a condition somehow heart attack affects the heart. It is an acute event it is a very serious condition and affects millions across the globe. It is a very common condition especially today with changing lifestyles diabetes hypertension becoming the norm of the day has become a very common disease. In that view I shall talk about what a neuro surgeon and what are the places and time at which you should consult a doctor immediately when you have something called stroke. In hindi you call it as lakua something like that and what happens in this.

First stroke is of three types one is a transcient attack where you might have a mild slurring of speech or a weekness and it improves over the 24 hour period. Second is where the supply to a part of the brain stops. Third is when there is a bleeding occurs or haemorrhaging. 3 of these types of strokes are all important all require ICU stay immediate consultation with a neuro surgeon inside a hospital setting and admission to the ICU. Why? All these conditions can be fatal and you may not have the time to save your near dear ones unless you are aware at what it entails and what it can possibly do. So what does it do? For a transcient attack a patient or what are the red flag signs? One patient has a loss of consciousness. Two he might have a weekness of any of the limbs upper lower limbs. Three there might be a slurring of speech or loss of speech. Four there might be simply altered consortium that is you may not be confused you may not be talking clearly sudden memory loss. All these are a sudden event at any point of day especially in the elderly especially in a patient who is a known case of hypertension or diabetes has to be taken very seriously immediately rush the patient to the emergency. It might be a simple thing it might be a sugar loss it might be electrolyte loss it might be heart condition. Only after you ruled it out and then we go for a imaging scan that is a MRI of the brain. MRI of the brain or CT of the brain where the MRI is not available we rule out the most lethal condition that is the brain stroke. Once you have ruled it out or if the condition improve you keep the patient in the ICU or intensive care for a day and the scan is normal patient improves then that is a transient attack's; then you know that you are a candidate who can get a major attack in the future so medicines are given to prevent further such events & you get a regular work up and a regular follow up. And in that fashion you prevent a catastrophic event in the future.

The next case where a part of the brain losses a blood supply or bleeds. In these cases you need a neuro surgeon intervention where the area damaged or the bleed is massive immediate life saving surgery is required wherein we remove the bleeding or remove the bone so as to give space to the brain & hence save the person’s life. If it is not done in time or not detected in time both case it is definitely fatal or the patient will be comatosed for life. So this has to be done immediately in a setup. First the patient has to be recognized has to be brought in an emergency ICU and further intervention is done. But most cases what happens is they don’t reach ICU they simply have an attack on the way have a convulsion fits or simply call daurey ho jatey hain pata nahi chalta pahouchtey nahi time pe and bachna mushkil ho jata hain. Time pe pouchna samajhna jada zaruri hain ek baar pouch gaye samajh gaye then it can be done. So most of the strokes are either a small bleed or a small area of brain which is affected which can be managed by medicines alone in ICU. If it is detected and managed in time most of these patients get complete relief some get partial relief which get better with physiotheraphy and others get relief from medication over a prolong period of time. And if they have no problem they will get at least preventive strategies for themselves as well as for the family that is many of the diseases are hereditary in nature. So father son might have it daughter might have it so they will be ready in future will take precautions with medicines & lifestyle modifications regular exercise avoiding smoking avoiding drinking all these things which you do for a healthy heart you are to do for a healthy brain.

Frankly speaking, a healthy brain is equally important or more important because if you are not functional doesn’t matter if your body all organs are fine because that is the main centre it has to be in perfect working condition. So once again brain stroke is something which has to be considered very seriously everybody should know what are the red flag signs when to consult a doctor and what to do next. At least to know the red flag signs mean any weakness koi bhi haath paer ki kamjori daurey or seizures or pit any loss of memory bhul jana any difficulty in talking speech problems which is of sudden onset has to be taken seriously shown an emergency and rule out stroke. Once ruled out good if not at least detected it can be treated, safely treated and most elderly most patients nowadays in their 30’s are affected by this. So please take care and I hope you don’t have the disease or If you have you come to know it in time and treated well. You can contact me Dr Vineet Varghese through Lybrate or the internet.

Thank you for your valuable time.