Dr Vikram Sharma is a senior consultant neurologist and stroke specialist at Sunshine Hospitals, Gachibowli – the best hospital for brain stroke treatment in Hyderabad.

Stroke if strikes can have lasting effects on your health as it may lead to brain injury, permanent disability and death. To prevent long-lasting implications, you should know how to act immediately when you experience stroke. Which means, the sooner you act the better. However, you can’t act immediately unless you know what stroke is; how it affects you, what causes stroke and how it is treated. Don’t worry! The following information will help solve your concerns pertaining to stroke.

What is a Stroke and how it occurs?

Stroke means your brain is not getting the blood it needs to function properly due to blocked blood vessels or bleeding in the brain. Formation of blood clots in the blood vessels that supply blood to the brain is one of the most common causes of stroke. This type of stroke is known as Ischemic stroke. Haemorrhagic stroke is another type of stroke in which blood vessels bursts. Sometimes stroke may also result due to temporary interruption in the blood supply to the brain, which may last for nearly about 30 minutes or more, and sometimes, even for several hours – Trans Ischemic attacks (TIA). This condition often needs to be addressed immediately as it could become a future full-blown stroke. Therefore, when stroke strike you must visit the best hospital for brain stroke treatment in Hyderabad.

Who are at risk?

Healthy arteries supply blood to the brain uninterruptedly. However, over a period of time, the arteries gradually become narrow due to plaques (fatty deposits). The plaque formation process is mostly aggravated by unhealthy lifestyle-related factors like diabetes, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, smoking, obesity and excessive alcohol intake. In addition, sedentary lifestyle, stress and high blood pressure can cause haemorrhagic stroke, which is quite devastating. Women are more prone to stroke than man as they are quite often predisposed to diabetes, hypertension, obesity, anxiety, mood swings and depression. In addition, menstrual issues, hormonal changes, gestational diabetes, usage of oral contraceptive pills increase the risk of stroke in women.

What are the warning signs of stroke?

The warning signs of stroke include sudden confusion, dizziness, trouble understanding others, trouble seeing with one or both eyes, uneven smile, face drooping, trouble speaking or understanding, loss of balance, coordination and trouble in walking; sudden severe headache; sudden numbness or weakness of the arm, face or leg.

How to identify stroke symptoms quickly?

The identification of stroke symptoms quickly is possible if you know FAST. In reality, the FAST test is a quick test that helps identify stroke symptoms quite diligently. Just look out for the following symptoms:

Face: Face droops one side or smile becomes uneven.

Arms: One or both the arms become weak (it becomes quite difficult to hold the arms up)

Speech: Speech becomes slurred

Time: Take action immediately, if all the above symptoms are yes

Your quick action is a key to successful treatment

How is stroke diagnosed and treated?

Your physician examines you physically based on your medical history, and then recommends computerized tomography or MRI scans. However, the types of tests and scans depend on your symptoms and severity of the condition. If your physician confirms diagnosis and finds you at a risk of developing stroke, he/ she will prescribe medicines that help prevent or remove blood clots or reduce cholesterol and blood pressure. Sometimes, surgery may be required to treat brain swelling and bleeding.

Prevention is better than cure

Physical, emotional and psychological well-being is a key to arrest several types of lifestyle-related diseases even before they strike and stroke is no exception to this. You can keep your body healthy and blood vessels strong with some slight changes in your lifestyle. To ensure this, indulge in any form of physical activity that you like on a regular basis – let it be walking, cycling, or just climbing stairs. Keep your weight under control by including a variety of colorful fruits and vegetables in your diet. If you smoke or take alcohol, then quit smoking and reduce alcohol intake. If you have any preexisting health condition like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or if you have had Trans Ischemic attacks (TIA) in the immediate past, you should take extra precautions because you could be at an increased risk of full-blown stroke in the future.

Dr. Vikram Sharma

Senior Consultant Neurologist and Stroke Specialist

Sunshine Hospitals – best hospital for brain stroke treatment in hyderabad