Essay Sample about Ischemic Stroke
Most of us probably know about strokes, but did you know that 87% of all strokes around the world was an ischemic stroke? I have a question for you guys, what kind of people do you think would have the highest risk of developing stroke? Age. Yes, there's no denying that age is related to the rate of developing strokes. However, ischemic stroke could happen to anyone, at any age, but expressed no symptoms. Therefore, it would be wise to start to take care of your health, as well as your significant others, from now and prevent the condition. And for that reason, here, today, I'll be presenting you what ischemic stroke is, how to prevent it, as well as the possible treatments in case someone you know might be suffering or risking from it.
Our focus today will be on the causes, symptoms, and treatments of ischemic stroke, let’s get started.
I’m positive that most of us here would have had heard of stroke, but to start us off, what is it? Any ideas? So stroke is a condition that occurs when the artery is almost or completely blocked. In fact, ischemic stroke is one of the two main types of stroke; the other one is hemorrhagic stroke. These two differs as hemorrhage stroke occurs when there is a pool of blood that damages the brain, caused by the breakage of an artery in the brain.
Meanwhile, ischemic stroke is when there is a blockage of blood flow to the brain, which could lead to severe long term disabilities such as mobilities. What do you think is the cause of this disability? It's because the blood supply is scarce to the brain, resulting in tissue damage, hence, immobilities. And as for today, we’ll be looking at an ischemic stroke for our focal point. Now we know that ischemic stroke occurs when the blood couldn’t reach the brain, but what causes it?
Let try imagining this, shall we? You’re running along a track like any other day, probably to get to the end of the path, but then there’s something in your way and you have to jump over it without making damage to the object. What would that be? A rock? No, that would not make a big change does it. A hurdle, that’s what it is. Now all those athletes exercising regularly are probably laughing, thinking ‘A hurdle? Oh yes, oh my lord that’s too easy! Just jump over it!’
But what if someone extended that hurdle that it grew so gigantic you just couldn’t find a way to get across? No, you cannot just walk around the edge and continue running, that’s considered cheating (haha). If the hurdle is too high, and you can do nothing about it, you’re most likely going to be stuck there.
Adding context to that, let’s relate it to our main topic today. You are the blood trying to get to the brain, the end of the path, and the track is the artery. The blood is being pumped to the brain but then there’s this obstacle, or if you prefer to call it a titanic hurdle still (haha), blocking the blood from reaching the brain. That hurdle is a plaque; something that forms as a result of the damage to the inner lining of the artery. The person who extends it is the fat, cholesterol, proteins, calcium and immune cells clotting or what we so-called atherosclerosis.
Some of you might be thinking, but what causes the damage in the first place? Or what actions that we do that could cause it? The answer is smoking. There’s a bunch of irritant molecules and substances inside that would harm your artery, for instant, nicotine, carbon monoxide and etc. Furthermore, this is why smoking tobacco explains the origin of endothelial cell dysfunction or the irritation and inflammation of the inner lining of your artery.
I have a question for you, how do YOU think the size of the plaque is related to the severity of the blockage? To help you I’ll give you two choices, positive correlation or negative correlation. If you choose positive correlation, good guess, but no it’s not. In fact, the smaller the size of the plaque, the easier it is to build up and block the blood flow further; especially if platelets are present since they tend to increase the clotting rate.Everything I’ve covered just now is the main reason why and how ischemic stroke happens.
Moving on to the symptoms of ischemic stroke. I’ve previously found an easy way to remember the main ones. Ready? FAST. F A S T. That’s it. The acronym FAST is for facial drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulties and time.
Okay okay, hear me out. The word ‘time’ might sound weird, but it’s a reminder for you all. It implies that the patient should be treated as quickly as possible when diagnosed with the condition, to diminish as much tissue damages as possible, as well as increase the chance of full recovery.
A sign of minimal long-term problems is when the symptoms improve within a day, when this happens, it's called a transient ischemic attack. This could result in a long term problem so if you have it, get a health check if possible.
Onto our last topic of the day, the treatments! Of course, surgery would help to lift your conditions, removing the plaque or inserting a stent to keep the artery wide and clear would be an option. Though that’s not always necessary. There are also other ways to treat ischemic stroke. The best treatment for ischemic stroke is to heal and reestablish their blood flow, thus, minimize cell death. The physicians will give the patient thrombolytic enzymes and aspirin, which will essentially reduce the clot and prevent additional from forming.
To conclude, ischemic stroke is a condition caused when a plaque is formed in the artery, causing atherosclerosis and resulting in sudden blockage of blood flow in the arteries. Remember and look out for the symptoms as in FAST and get help as soon as possible if diagnosed with the condition. Thank you for your attention and I wish you a great day and healthy life.
