Symptoms and Risk Factors
Symptoms
- Numbness, tingling, or weakness usually on one side of the body
- Loss of vision, or visual changes
- Inability to speak or understand, slurred speech
- Dizziness, loss of balance, feeling clumsy
- Severe headache
- Altered level of consciousness
Effects of a Stroke
- The effects of a stroke depend primarily on the location of the obstruction and the extent of brain tissue affected.
- Each side of the brain controls the opposite side of the body, except for the face.
Right Brain
- If the stroke occurs in the right side of the brain, the left side of the body (and the right side of the face) will be affected
Left Brain
- If the stroke occurs in the left side of the brain, the right side of the body (and the left side of the face) will be affected
Risk Factors
Controllable:
- Hypertension
- Heart Disease
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Diabetes
- Cigarette Smoking
- Carotid or other artery disease
- High Cholesterol
- Poor diet
- Physical inactivity and obesity
- Sickle Cell Disease
Uncontrollable:
- Age
- Family History
- Gender
- Prior stroke, TIA, or heart attack