The first signs and symptoms of stroke in men

Of course, knowing the symptoms of all diseases is quite difficult, even if you are a doctor. Doctors receive a profession for a very long time, studying various pathologies and diseases for years. However, a simple person should know the basics of physiology and first aid. Today we will talk about stroke in men - how it manifests itself, what symptoms are characteristic for this, what are the first signs that the diagnosis can be suspected. After all, it is very important, in time medical care provided for a stroke can save a person from disability and even death.

What is a stroke?

A stroke is an acute condition in which the blood circulation of the brain is interrupted for a short time as a result of neurological pathologies that have arisen. A stroke develops very quickly, within a few hours the pathology can lead to death or disability, if not provide medical assistance in time.According to statistics, stroke is the second most common cause of mortality. It is a stroke that most often causes a person to become disabled and cannot take care of himself. A third of all patients with stroke die immediately, on the first day after the onset of the illness, due to the late treatment of a doctor. More than half of people die in the first year after a stroke. It is noteworthy that men are more prone to stroke, death after suffering a pathology in them occurs more often. But why does the disease develop?

Causes of stroke in men

There are three types of stroke, each of which has its own characteristics and causes of development.

Ischemic stroke, or cerebral infarction. This type of stroke is diagnosed most often in 80% of cases. Damage to the brain develops suddenly, it can occur even at night in a sleeping person. Older people are usually prone to ischemic stroke, but sometimes a stroke can happen in a young person, in rare cases even in a child. Risk factors for the development of ischemic stroke are smoking, alcohol use, stress, lack of exercise, high cholesterol, blood clots, obesity, unhealthy diet, etc.The risk of stroke increases if the patient has a history of diagnoses such as diabetes, heart defects, hypertension, myocardial infarction. Ischemic stroke develops due to the narrowing or blockage of the arteries that feed the brain. The cause of a stroke often becomes a broken blood clot, which blocks the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain cells; they quickly begin to die during fasting.

Hemorrhagic stroke, or cerebral hemorrhage. This type of stroke develops much less frequently, only in about 15% of cases. The principle of pathology is to rupture a blood vessel, resulting in the release of blood into the brain fluid. Plasma and red blood cells penetrate into the structure of brain fluid and affect brain function. The vessel may rupture due to severe vitamin deficiency, high pressure, severe intoxication. Often, cerebral hemorrhage occurs against the background of strong physical or emotional stress, with powerful stresses and neurological experiences.

Subarachnoid stroke develops only in 5% of cases, most often it is caused by a head injury or aneurysm rupture.When a head injury occurs, the blood vessels are damaged, leading to brain hemorrhage. Aneurysm rupture can be the result of various blood disorders or drug use.

A strong attack of migraine can also trigger a stroke, which causes vasospasm and overflow of the venous artery. Knowing the types of stroke and the reasons for their development, you can, if possible, reduce the risks. But how to recognize a stroke in the early stages of a lesion?

Signs of a stroke

All doctors in one voice say that when the first symptoms of a stroke occur, a person, his relatives and the people around him have cherished three hours, during which they have to ask for help. After these three hours, changes in the brain will be irreversible, so the first signs of a stroke in men should know everything.

Even before the onset of a person’s stroke, a headache that can not be treated can torment. That is, conventional analgesics (paracetamol, ibuprofen) do not help.

A man develops causeless weakness, general well-being worsens, there is a pressing headache, dizziness can lead to loss of consciousness.Most often, the patient is in a faint and dizzy state, and may not respond to external stimuli.

The victim may experience nausea and vomiting, they are not associated with food intake. Nausea can appear on both a full and empty stomach. In some cases, develops active non-stop vomiting, which does not bring relief.

If you suspect you have a stroke, you need to take something in your hands, try to thread a needle, cook food (be careful with a knife and hot objects). With the defeat of the brain, the coordination of movement will be disturbed; for a man, everything will fall out of his hands. You can simply raise your hands to one level - the hand on the affected side of the body will be located below.

In stroke, it can be broken speech, and not always, but at times. Try to talk with your loved ones, recite a verse, or just read out loud. This will help you recognize violations in time. If you notice a person with signs of a stroke, ask for his full name and address. Speech at the victim will be blurred, as if intoxicated. Unfortunately, it is this reason that often leads passers-by not to provide first aid to stroke victims - they think that a person is simply drunk.

In the case of a hemorrhagic stroke, a man may feel a rush of blood to the head, due to this, fever is felt, the face may become red and even purple.

When stroke changes the man's facial expression - ask him to smile. If you suspect a stroke in yourself - go to the mirror and try to smile. With brain damage, the nerve endings do not obey, one corner of the lips can be lowered, the smile will be asymmetric.

There is another way to recognize a stroke. At the mirror, try to pull the tongue out of your mouth - with a stroke it will be asymmetric, it will fall on one side. In difficult cases, you can not even pull the tongue out of the mouth - the muscles will not obey.

In some people, one of the first signs of a stroke is pain in the arm or numbness of the fingers. Emergency doctors often check the patient's condition with simple handshakes - right and left hands. With a stroke, the arm on the affected side of the body will be much weaker.

A stroke can be characterized by signs such as impaired swallowing, active drooling. In severe cases, with a stroke, the pulse decreases, uncontrolled urination, defecation may occur.From the affected side, the eyelid becomes more lowered, the cheek is not rounded when inflating.

Most stroke patients admit that the first symptom was a sharp and strong blow to the head or the so-called “boiling water in the head” - a feeling of heat. If you experience these symptoms, you should immediately call an ambulance.

As noted, men suffer from stroke much more often, especially when it comes to young age. It is all about female hormones that protect the body from the abnormal functioning of blood vessels. Over time, when a woman crosses the climacteric age, hormone production decreases, the incidence of the disease is compared with the male one. That is why in men the disease can occur at any age, women mostly suffer from a stroke only after 50-60 years. Despite the peculiarities of a stroke in a woman and a man, all without exception in this situation need first aid.

First aid for stroke

If at least one or more symptoms occur, call the ambulance team as soon as possible.During the call, be sure to inform the dispatcher about the symptoms of the pathology and the assumptions about the diagnosis. While doctors are going to see you, you can give a person first aid.

1. Lay the patient on a horizontal surface, lift the head, putting a pillow or folded clothes under it. By the way, you need to raise not only the head, but also the shoulders, so as not to impair blood circulation in the vertebral arteries. Do not allow the patient to move or stand up - this can worsen the course of a stroke and lead to more serious consequences.
2. If the patient has an embarrassing clothes, relax them - unbutton the shirt collar, remove the belt, loosen the tie. A person should breathe calmly and easily.
3. With nausea and vomiting, you need to put the patient on his side, put a cup or other wide container for vomit mass around him.
4. Try to measure the patient's pressure, if it exceeds the 140/90 mark, you need to reduce it. As a rule, hypertensive patients are always with them to reduce pressure - Nifedipine, Clophelin, Captopril, Anaprilin, Egilok. If in doubt, it is better to wait for the doctor or ask the ambulance manager!
5. If there is no suitable medicine for high pressure, apply cold to the head and warmth to the legs. Wrap ice or frozen meat, attach to the forehead. Put warm (not hot!) Water into the bottles and attach the victim to the feet.
6. If the patient's breathing is impaired or he stops breathing altogether, you need to do mouth-to-mouth artificial respiration. To do this, the victim's head leans back slightly, the nostrils are clamped, and air is blown into the mouth for about 1 second. During inhalation, the chest should rise. Inhale should be every 2-3 seconds.
7. If the patient is conscious, try to calm him down. If he himself does not suspect a stroke, he should not be told about the proposed diagnosis, it can affect his nervous system. If there is glycine on hand - fine, it will help relieve tension, has a mild sedative and neuroprotective effect, does not allow the hearth of a stroke to grow. In addition, glycine is absolutely safe. Just give the patient under the tongue 10 tablets of the drug. But remember, this is permissible only if the victim is conscious, otherwise he may choke.

It is difficult to make a prognosis after a stroke, especially in old age. Rehabilitation is a long journey that will take a lot of time and patience. Recovery of lost brain functions can occur due to alternative ways of blood supply to the brain, so there are always chances for recovery, especially in the absence of additional diseases. It is important to prevent re-stroke, which can be fatal.

If you have any vascular or cardiac pathologies, blood diseases, you need to carry a note with your family’s address and telephone number that may come to the rescue.Take care of your elderly relatives - put a note in the pockets of all outerwear, make sure that the person drank the prescribed medicine in time, gave up bad habits and went to a doctor in a timely manner. Even if nothing bothers, after 60 years you need to do a cardiogram every year and go for a consultation with a cardiologist. And then a stroke will certainly pass you by!

Video: how to recognize a stroke