In England, one in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime, with 100,000 people experiencing stroke every year. The good news is that they are not necessarily fatal, like many of us incorrectly believe - there are over 1.3 million stroke survivors in the UK alone!

Strokes occur when the blood supply to part of your brain is either interrupted or significantly reduced. This prevents brain tissue from getting the oxygen and nutrients it needs, causing brain cells to die in a matter of minutes.

Due to the severity of strokes, it can be a leading cause of both death and disability - and should be regarded as a medical emergency requiring prompt treatment in all cases. However, early action can significantly help to reduce brain damage and other complications arising from the event.

Thanks to modern treatments and greater knowledge of how to act when strokes occur, fewer individuals are killed by strokes today than in the past and effective treatments can also help to prevent disability caused by strokes.

Although the chances of making a strong recovery following a stroke are better than ever, life following such a significant event can be extremely challenging for individuals. However, there are plenty of things that can be done to improve the quality of life for people recovering from a stroke, and in many cases individuals can continue to live an active lifestyle.

Let’s take a deeper look into how strokes work and what can be done to improve the quality of life for individuals recovering from a stroke:

What is a Stroke?

The first important distinction to make here is to acknowledge that there are two different common forms of stroke. These are ischaemic strokes and haemorrhagic strokes. These affect the brain in various ways and are caused by different things.

Ischaemic Strokes

The most common form of stroke is known as an ischaemic stroke. They occur when a blood clot stops the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain.

These clots often form in areas where arteries have been narrowed or blocked over time by fatty deposits in a process called atherosclerosis.

(Image: Mayo Clinic)

Although your arteries naturally become narrower as you get older, there are many factors that can speed up the process, making a stroke more of a possibility.

Things like smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels and alcoholism can all contribute to the production of blood clots in the heart that break up and find their way into the blood vessels that supply the brain.

Haemorrhagic Strokes

Also known as cerebral haemorrhages or intracranial hemorrhages, a haemorrhagic stroke is less common than an ischemic stroke.

This form of stroke occurs when a blood vessel inside the skull bursts and bleeds into and around the brain. The main cause of a haemorrhagic stroke is high blood pressure, which weakens the arteries around the brain - making them more likely to split or rupture.

Again, there are many factors that can lead to high blood pressure, and, similarly to the case of ischemic strokes, they can include smoking, alcoholism, being overweight, lacking exercise and stress.

Haemorrhagic strokes can happen when a rupture of a balloon-like expansion of a blood vessel (brain aneurysm), or that of an abnormally formed blood vessel in the brain occurs.

Symptoms

Strokes require urgent medical attention. If you or someone else appears to be having a stroke, try to compose yourself enough to note the time the symptoms began. In many cases, timing is of the essence in receiving the most effective treatment.

Some key symptoms of strokes can be remembered by the acronym ‘BE FAST’:

• B: Balance - People suffering from a stroke might find it hard to walk. If balance and stumbling become an issue, this could be an indication that you’re experiencing a stroke. As well as dizziness, you might also experience a sharp, sudden headache along with vomiting or altered consciousness.
• E: Eyes - Another symptom of a stroke is difficulty seeing in one or both eyes. Your vision could become blurred or blackened - you might also see double.
• F: Face - You may also feel numbness in your faceOne side of your mouth may also droop whilst smiling.
• A - Arms and legs: You may feel a similar numbness in your arm or leg. Depending on the severity of the stroke, you may experience weakness, numbness or paralysis - and often it affects just one side of your body. One test you can do is to raise both arms over your head simultaneously. If one arm begins to fall, it may indicate that you’re having a stroke.
• S - Speech: You may have difficulty speaking and understanding others. This may come across as confusion, and you might begin slurring words and finding it difficult to understand what others are saying.
• T - Time: This is your call to action. If you see any combination of the above symptoms, it’s time to call the emergency services immediately.

(Image: Pacific Neuroscience Institute)

Diagnosis

Strokes are typically diagnosed through the application of physical tests and observing images of the brain that’s produced during a scan. When somebody arrives at hospital suffering from a suspected stroke, it’s imperative that doctors learn as much about the symptoms as possible to ensure an accurate diagnosis.

Many tests can be conducted as a means of confirming a diagnosis and learning the cause of the stroke - including blood tests to check for cholesterol and blood sugar levels, checking a pulse for an irregular heartbeat, measuring blood pressure and conducting brain scans.

Brain scans are a vital part of the process involved in diagnosing patients - even if it seems extremely likely that they’re experiencing a stroke. This is because scans can help to reveal whether an ischemic stroke or a haemorrhagic stroke is underway, which part of the brain has been impacted and how severe the stroke is.

The importance of brain scans is such that every patient suffering from a suspected stroke should have a brain scan within an hour of arriving at hospital.

There are many reasons why an early brain scan is essential to patients, especially when they could:

• Potentially benefit from medicine to clear blood clots, such as alteplase or early anticoagulant treatments
• Already be taking anticoagulant treatments
• Have a lower level of consciousness

Because time is of the essence, it’s vital that nobody adopts a ‘wait and see’ approach when a suspected stroke is occurring. Swift brain scans are imperative, so there’s no time to waste in alerting help.

Helping a Loved One After a Stroke

Strokes can often bring unexpected hardship to families, and the very topic of the illness can be difficult for survivors and loved ones to discuss. While you may not want to start a conversation about strokes, knowing the medications that your loved one needs and how their home may need to be modified can be vital in ensuring that their lives aren’t unnecessarily impacted by what’s happened.

You can work to reduce the risks of a second stroke occurring. Encourage your loved one to eat a healthier diet, engage in more exercise and to take the medicines they’ve been prescribed.

Also, be ready for falls. After experiencing a stroke, it can be common for individuals to suffer falls due to dizziness. You may not be able to monitor your loved one at all times but make sure that you’re primed for a quick trip to the emergency room. Ensure that your loved one always carries a mobile phone with them, just in case they’re unable to get back up again following a fall.

It’s also important to be on the lookout for signs of post-stroke depression, which can affect between 30% and 50% of those recovering from a stroke. Depression can impact the recovery of your loved one, and it can be useful to devise a plan of action with your loved one’s health care provider.

Helping your loved one become a MedicAlert member means that you’ll have reassurance every day that, should something happen when you’re not around, their vital medical information is available so they receive the treatment you need. Your contact details can also be stored on their record as an emergency contact, so you will be contacted after they receive initial treatment.

How to Deal With It Yourself

Because a stroke causes injury to the brain, your recovery process can lead to some unexpected challenges.

Although some individuals may recover quickly, many require more long term support in order to regain a sense of independence. Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all recovery plan following a stroke, and your case may be different to that of others.

In many cases, your recovery will be aided by a team of specialists like physiotherapists, psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians and specialist nurses and doctors.

As you recover from your stroke, it’s important to be aware that you may experience a psychological change in how you react to situations. Feelings of depression and anxiety can be common among those who have recently had a stroke, and you may also feel yourself becoming angry and frustrated at things that you wouldn’t normally feel affected by.

Although these psychological changes can feel alarming, they can be a short term factor in your recovery process. As you begin to return to your daily activities, you’ll receive a psychological assessment from your healthcare team to check whether you’re experiencing some emotional setbacks. If these changes continue over longer periods of time, be sure to consult your GP who will be able to refer a specialist to look into the situation.

Tips to Help

If you’re recovering from a stroke, there are many things you can do to aid your progress. Whilst medical professionals can help to devise a plan of action that acts as a roadmap for your return to everyday life, there’s a number of little tips and habits you can pick up to help you to feel better faster:

1. Practice, practice, practice to regain your lost skills. If your brain has been damaged, it can cause you to forget how to do everyday tasks. If this happens, don’t become frustrated, you may be able to regain your skills by practicing over and over. Just think of it as learning to ride a bike again.
2. Focus on creating a healthy diet for yourself. Good nutrition can help to boost your recovery - open yourself up to more fruit and vegetables and your brain may begin to heal at a quicker rate.
3. Sleep as often as you require. You may find yourself feeling more tired more often. Don’t worry, a recovering brain needs plenty of sleep to heal.
4. Create clear and measurable goals for yourself. By setting yourself achievable goals during your recovery process, you can gain new levels of motivation from observing your progress.

How MedicAlert Can Help

MedicAlert is the UK’s only charity that provides medical ID services. We strive to keep people living with medical conditions safe in emergency situations. By storing their medical information centrally, vital details can be made available for those caring for the individual.

As a MedicAlert member, you can choose from over 60 styles of medical IDs, each engraved with your most vital medical information as well as our 24/7 emergency helpline and your unique membership number. This means that, wherever you may be, you can quickly get the help you need even if you’re unable to communicate at the time.

This service can be important for those suffering from a stroke as your medical ID will help paramedics and health professionals to instantly identify your symptoms rather than mistaking them for something else, like a seizure, sepsis, or a brain tumour. In knowing your underlying conditions, it means a stroke is more likely to be correctly diagnosed - enabling you to get the treatment you need when timing is of the essence.

Your vital medical information will also provide details of your medications, ensuring you don’t receive drugs that may be contraindicated and that you receive treatment based on drugs currently in your system. This can be particularly vital if you’re on anticoagulants which may cause increased internal or external bleeding in an accident.

The goal of MedicAlert is to deliver peace of mind to individuals who are suffering or recovering from complex illnesses and diseases. Our service helps our members to live active and full lives, without the fear of experiencing a setback.