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2017-10-13
Mr. Wang is a full-time stockbroker, working more than 16 hours a day under great pressure. In such a busy and stressful life, one day Mr. Wang suddenly felt dizzy, weak, and numb, but he recovered soon afterwards. Fortunately, Ms. Wang was vigilant and insisted to accompany him to the hospital. After examination, the doctor said that he might It is temporary cerebral ischemia.
A small stroke is a type of stroke
What exactly is temporary cerebral ischemia? Transient ischemic attack, commonly known as minor stroke, refers to the neurological symptoms caused by sudden cerebral ischemia. The biggest difference from stroke is that the neurological symptoms of temporary cerebral ischemia will return to normal within 24 hours, and there will be no sequelae.
The risk factors of cerebral ischemia or stroke can be divided into two parts: congenital and acquired. Congenital factors include the thickness of the internal carotid artery. Because the thickness of the internal carotid artery in men is higher than that in women, the risk of stroke in men is much higher than that in women of the same age. People who have had a family history of stroke in the family have a higher chance of getting a stroke than the average person.
The acquired factors include high blood pressure, smoking, heart disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and heavy alcohol abuse.
Temporary cerebral ischemia (small stroke) mainly has the following symptoms:
Sudden weakness or numbness in one limb.
Symptoms of brainstem ischemia, such as dizziness, diplopia (a thing is seen as one or more images), unsteady walking, and confusion.
Symptoms of ophthalmic artery obstruction, that is, sudden blindness in one eye, gradually recover from about 10 seconds to 10 minutes.
High cholesterol, high blood pressure, and coronary heart disease have all been confirmed to be directly or indirectly related to stroke. According to a paper published in the Journal of Acupuncture in 2007, one third of patients with transient cerebral ischemia have a chance to have a stroke within 48 hours. Studies have shown that a transient ischemic attack can be regarded as a precursor to a stroke. The more frequent the ischemic attack or the longer the duration, the higher the chance of stroke, and about 30% of them will develop a stroke.
Prevent minor strokes from daily habits
Regular health check
Those with high blood pressure must be treated as soon as possible and develop the habit of checking blood pressure regularly.
Healthy diet habit
Reduce the intake of fat, sugar, and salt, establish a balanced and healthy diet, avoid overeating, and maintain a normal weight.
Moderate exercise
Develop exercise habits based on personal interests and environmental factors. Appropriate moderate exercises such as walking and Tai Chi can lower blood cholesterol, further lower blood pressure, and improve blood circulation in hypertensive patients.
Avoid incentives
The triggers for stroke should be avoided, such as strenuous exercise or labor, drinking, smoking, long-term insomnia, mental agitation, excitement, anger, constipation, and straining the stool.
The water temperature should be moderate when bathing
The temperature of the bathing water should not be too cold or too hot (about 26-40 degrees Celsius is recommended). Elderly people should not try hot spring baths rashly, because after a period of soaking in hot water, the blood vessels of the whole body will dilate and blood pressure will drop. Standing up is prone to postural hypotension that causes the patient to faint, and hot and cold water temperature can cause great irritation to blood vessels.
Temperature difference is closely related to stroke
The number of stroke patients will start to increase after the beginning of winter each year, but the key to inducing stroke is not the temperature, but the magnitude of the temperature difference. Sudden changes from cold to hot or rapid changes from hot to cold are challenging the human body’s ability to adjust and the human body’s environmental changes The adaptability of the body will weaken with aging or cardiovascular disease.
The elderly not only age their blood vessels, but also degrade their ability to regulate vasoconstriction and relaxation. Once the temperature changes drastically, blood pressure and heartbeat will fluctuate. If the blood pressure is not well controlled in normal times, the sudden hot and cold makes the body too late to react, the blood pressure is more easily controlled, and the chance of stroke is greatly increased.
In addition to seasonal differences, strokes often occur in the middle of the night or early in the morning. This is also related to the sudden change in the external environment temperature. For example, many elderly people have the habit of morning exercises and sleep warm throughout the night, but get up early to go indoors and outdoors. The temperature difference is large, and you may not be able to stand it if you can't warm your body. The most dangerous situation is that the patient has had a stroke without knowing it.Some transient cerebral ischemia, in which the wind symptoms are completely relieved within a day, such as sudden loss of sight in one eye, temporary loss of hearing in the ear, loss of facial expression, but all of a sudden return to normal. This is commonly known as “small stroke" patients often take it lightly when they get better.
In addition to the environmental problem of temperature difference, about 40% of strokes are closely related to high blood pressure. Too high blood pressure will harden and fragile cerebrovascular vessels. On the one hand, it is easy to rupture, and on the other hand, it is easy to form hard lumps of arteriosclerosis and cause vascular stenosis. It is a common risk factor for embolic or hemorrhagic stroke. High cholesterol can accelerate the production of atherosclerosis in the arterial wall, and diabetes can also cause vascular disease and accelerate arteriosclerosis.In addition, patients who have suffered from myocardial infarction, heart failure, rheumatic heart disease, fitted with artificial valves, arrhythmia, atrial fibrillation, even cancer and periodontal disease, may also be prone to hardening of blood vessels due to chronic infections and chronic inflammations, which will increase the chances of stroke.
The reader is reminded again that the duration of minor stroke symptoms is short, and most of them can be recovered without special treatment so that patients often ignore the severity without seeking medical attention. It is not an exaggeration to say that minor strokes are a time bomb that endangers their health. If you can seek medical advice early, receive the correct diagnosis, find out the cause, and cooperate with active treatment, you can reduce the risk of serious stroke in the future.
In fact, strokes are not divided into severity and size. As long as neurological symptoms appear, it means that there may be a greater problem in the body. If there are risk factors, such as those over 50 years old and have a family history, they should seek medical advice immediately to prevent stroke.
