Here’s what to know about strokes and recovery from them

Learn how to recognize the symptoms — and lower your risk.

A stroke is the brain’s version of a heart attack. It’s a medical emergency that needs immediate attention. Here’s what you need to know about strokes, including how to recognize the symptoms and how to lower your risk of having one.

What is a stroke, and what is it caused by?

A stroke happens when the brain doesn’t get enough blood flowing to it or one of its blood vessels bursts. This causes the brain to get less oxygen, and if that happens, brain cells can die.

The 2 main types of strokes are:

• Ischemic stroke: A blockage, usually a blood clot, occurs in a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain. “Blood is not allowed to pursue its usual route, because there’s a blockage somewhere,” says Bruce Ovbiagele, M.D. He’s a stroke researcher and professor of neurology at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences in San Francisco. “The brain cells that are dependent on that route for their oxygen and nutrients end up getting starved and then they die,” he says.
• Hemorrhagic stroke: A blood vessel in the brain ruptures, causing bleeding into the brain. “The blood on the brain surface is very toxic, and that ends up destroying the brain cells,” Dr. Ovbiagele says.

In the United States, about 87% of the strokes that occur each year are ischemic strokes, and 13% are hemorrhagic strokes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Have risk factors for stroke? Call a licensed insurance agent at (800) 827-9990 to talk about available critical illness and cancer plans, or browse your options online today.

What are the symptoms of a stroke?

The CDC lists the following symptoms of a stroke:

• “Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
• Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or difficulty understanding speech
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or lack of coordination
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause”

If you think someone you know may be having a stroke, remember the acronym FAST and do the following test:

• F — Face: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
• A — Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
• S — Speech: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?
• T — Time: If you see any of these signs, call 911 right away.

Whether you use the FAST test for someone you know or yourself, if you have symptoms of a stroke or notice them in another person, it’s a medical emergency. Call 911 immediately. “Anytime you or somebody you know has a sudden change in their well-being, especially someone who you know has risk factors for stroke, suspect a stroke,” Dr. Ovbiagele says.

How do doctors treat a stroke?

If a blood clot caused the stroke, medication is given to break up the clot. “Clot-busting medications are given through an IV,” Dr. Ovbiagele says. Timing is important to prevent further brain damage. People who have a stroke will want to be at the hospital within 3 hours of the first symptoms to get the most effective treatment and experience the safest outcome, according to the CDC.

If the medication doesn’t fully dissolve the blood clot, a stroke specialist may thread a catheter (thin tube) through the artery from the groin to reach and remove the clot. But not every hospital is staffed and equipped to do this procedure.

That’s one of the reasons it’s important to call 911. If the emergency medical technicians suspect a stroke, they may direct the ambulance to a hospital that’s a comprehensive stroke center.

On the other hand, if a burst blood vessel caused the stroke, it may be treated with care in the intensive care unit, says Dr. Ovbiagele. The doctor will closely monitor symptoms such as high blood pressure and treat them as the brain recovers.

In some cases, a stroke specialist will perform a procedure using a catheter to seal off the broken blood vessel and stop the bleeding, using materials such as a coil. “They seal off that area that is causing the bleeding to occur,” says Dr. Ovbiagele.

There’s also a surgical procedure that can release pressure on the brain if it swells.

Stroke rehabilitation will start in the hospital and may include the following types of therapy:

• Occupational
• Physical
• Speech

“The good thing is that the brain is very plastic,” says Dr. Ovbiagele. “Recovery is about trying to rewire the brain so that the other surviving brain cells in that vicinity can take on the function of the ones that have been affected.”

What is the timeline for stroke recovery?

“The best rate of recovery is very early on — the first 3 months after the stroke,” says Dr. Ovbiagele. Improvements tend to plateau after a year, he adds.

Whether people who have had a stroke get treatment or not, 9 out of 10 stroke patients still experience some kind of some kind of ongoing issues, notes Dr. Ovbiagele. These may include:

• Issues understanding or forming speech
• Issues with bladder and bowel control
• Numbness or strange sensations
• Pain in the hands and feet
• Paralysis and/or weakness on one side of the body
• Trouble controlling or expressing emotions
• Trouble with thinking, awareness, attention, learning, judgment and memory
• Trouble with chewing and swallowing

Critical illness and cancer plans may provide you with the benefits you need if you experience a qualified illness. Call a licensed insurance agent at (800) 827-9990, or browse your options online today.

What puts someone at risk of a stroke?

The following medical conditions, physical factors, and lifestyle behaviors may put you at a higher risk for a stroke.

Medical conditions:

• Previous stroke
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Heart disease
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Sickle cell disease

Other physical factors:

• Genetics and family history of stroke
• Being older (the chance of having a stroke nearly doubles every 10 years after age 55)
• Being a woman
• Being non-Hispanic Black or Pacific Islander

Lifestyle behaviors:

• Diet high in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol or sodium
• Lack of physical activity
• Excessive alcohol consumption
• Cigarette smoking

What can you do to prevent a stroke?

You can’t change certain risk factors, such as your age. But you can make lifestyle choices that can decrease your risk of stroke on their own — or that decrease your risk of health conditions that put you at a higher risk of a stroke. For example, excessive salt (sodium) in your diet puts you at a higher risk of high blood pressure, a leading cause of strokes that can be prevented.

“Four out of 5 strokes are preventable,” says Dr. Ovbiagele. Here are some lifestyle behaviors that can help decrease your risk of stroke:

• Eat a healthy diet that’s low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol and sodium. “The Mediterranean diet has consistently been shown to be associated with a reduced risk of stroke,” says Dr. Ovbiagele. The diet emphasizes foods such as olive oil, nuts, fruits, vegetables and fish.
• Aim for 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week. Exercise improves the tone of blood vessels and helps prevent blood clots by thinning the blood, says Dr. Ovbiagele.
• Limit alcohol consumption to no more than 1 drink a day if you’re a woman or no more than 2 drinks a day if you’re a man.
• Don’t smoke.
• See your doctor regularly so that they can monitor for and treat medical conditions that increase your risk of a stroke, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes.
• If you have a medical condition that puts you at a higher risk of stroke, work with your doctor to follow your treatment plan. One of the top modifiable risk factors for stroke is high blood pressure, Ovbiagele says. “That is best addressed with consistent medication use and lifestyle changes that confirm that blood pressures are controlled,” he says.

How can critical illness insurance help if you have a stroke?

Critical illness and cancer plans provide cash benefits if you suffer from a critical illness, such as a stroke. And it’s worth noting, up front, that critical illness and cancer plans aren’t a substitute for traditional health insurance. You must also buy one of these plans before developing a qualified illness, such as a stroke, to get the cash benefit.

The benefits are a set amount, and you can choose how you want to spend the money. For example, you may use it to pay for medical expenses not covered by your health insurance or even for daily expenses. These could include:

• Childcare and household help
• Deductibles
• Living expenses, such as car payments, mortgage or rent payments, and utility bills
• Out-of-network specialists
• Travel or hotels if treatment is far from where you live

Have any further questions about critical illness insurance? Call a licensed insurance agent at (800) 827-9990, or browse your options online today.

Disclaimer:
For informational purposes only. This information is compiled by HealthMarkets Insurance Agency and does not diagnose problems or recommend specific treatment. Services and medical technologies referenced herein may not be covered under your plan. Please consult directly with your primary care physician if you need medical advice.