Considering the severe after effects of a stroke, the first sign of a stroke becomes very important to seek immediate treatment. The symptom of stroke could happen in a short period of one day and then disappear. Its called a mini stroke or TIA, Transient Ischemic Attact. TIA is a stroke that lasts for less than 24 hours. The impact of TIA will not be serious. TIA will not cause permanent brain damage. The most important thing about TIA is the fact that it will be followed by the real stroke in days or months. The statistics in USA shows that the real stroke happens after 2 days for 5% of the patient and after 3 months for 15% of the patient.
The signs are sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, leg, especially on one side of the body, sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, and sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
Dont under estimate a TIA, just because you recover from numbness or face weakness quite quickly, it doesnt mean that you are secured from a stroke. It is just like a preliminary earth quake for a bigger volcano eruption. When you have one of the symptoms, it is the sign that you have a problem in blood circulation. The clotting of the blood vessel could happen in your heart or other organs and then transfer to the brain in the flow of blood. The clotting could also happen outside the brain, but it is blocking the flow of blood rich with oxygen to the brain.
Rehabilitation, post stroke, is necessary because a stroke can cause damage in the brain resulting in after-effects. The patient may lose the ability to walk, speak or see normally. The after result could be light or severe such as paralysis. About 4 million people in USA survive a stroke and live with the after stroke effects. The sooner the stroke could be detected the faster doctors can help to minimize the effect. Immediate action such as surgery or medication could make a significant difference to the severity of brain damage.
The rehabilitation for a patient after stroke has the purpose of improving the body functions and to regain their independence as much as possible. The patient needs to learn basic abilities taken away from them by a stroke, such as: eating, walking and speaking. The learning process should be designed to increase their self confidence, regain their dignity and to give motivation to live. The mental condition is as important as physical aspects. Statistic shows that the survivor may experience depression and the feeling of uselessness due to being dependant on other people.
The methods of rehabilitation of stroke are now advanced. The exercise, treatments and tools have been developed to help a better recovery from a stroke. We just can not count on this rehabilitation to recover 100%, because not all stroke effects can be recovered by rehabilitation. To this end the best thing is still prevention and fast medical help.
I summary, we should be concerned about having mini strokes, TIA’s or a one day stroke because it is the sign for the real stroke with a more severe impact to follow. Rehabilitation should take place at the earliest to minimize permanent impact that a stroke can cause.