Stroke/Brain Attack
Preventable, costly to the entire nation, this brain ailment is the
third leading cause of death in the USA. The statistics on strokes are
impressive:
* 150,000 deaths per year.
* Total cost to society is more than $30 billion per year in medical
costs and lost productivity.
* It is the leading cause of disability.
* Strokes are the most preventable of all catastrophic conditions.
* It affects people of all ages; its incidence increases, however, with
aging.
* Strokes reach every walk of life, every ethnic group.
* Brain surgery can be a preventive technique.
You can self-administer the Brain Surgery Information Council's test/guide
which will aid you and your physician in an overall evaluation of your
"stroke potential." (We're going to offer an evaluative, inter-active test
concept.) The inquirer can take the test, get an evaluation, confer with
his physician, or call us. Early surgical interventive techniques are today's
front line of defense against many of these "Brain Attacks."
Types of Strokes:
*Ischemic Strokes - account for about 84% of all strokes. They occur
when the blood supply to a portion of the brain is interrupted. The thrombotic
kind stems from a clot which has built up in the cerebral artery; embolics
result from a circulatory blockage to a portion of the brain which can
be traced elsewhere -- most frequently from the heart or the cervical portion
of the carotid artery.
* Hemorrhagic Strokes - make up the remaining 16% of these calamities;
they are caused by bleeding in the brain space (intracerebral) or between
the brain and the skull (subarachnoid). These kinds of strokes are more
dangerous and life-threatening than the Ischemic strokes.
Symptomology
Don't over apply the following symptoms to your own condition. Headache
is perhaps the universal symptom. They are often described as "splitting,"
"migraine," "the worst of my life," and are almost always present at any
stroke incident. A stiffness of the neck is another indicator. Frequently,
an accompaniment of nausea or vomiting can confuse the condition with a
viral illness. If there is severe headache with a loss consciousness (no
matter how brief), investigation of stroke prevention procedures should
be seriously considered...and quickly.
Other symptoms, less frequent in occurrence, might include convulsions,
coma, loss of hearing or sight, double vision, or a general malaise with
general aches.
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