A stroke takes place when blood supply is interrupted to a certain portion of the brain. There are two types of stroke. One kind of stroke is when a clot blocks the blood supply to a certain part of the brain; this is called and ischemic stroke. The other type of stroke is caused by a blood vessel in the brain rupturing and causing a hemorrhage. Symptoms of strokes are a sever headache, unsteadiness, confusion, dizziness, loss of vision or blurred vision, speech problems like slurring or not being able to understand the speech or even difficulty in being to say the right words and paralysis, weakness or numbness on one side of the body. The extent of damage and period of recovery would depend on the severity of the stroke. Sometimes the recovery is quite fast where as sometimes the damage is permanent.

Though strokes can happen to people at any age, most strokes affect men over the age of 55. Causes of strokes can be a family history of risks of strokes, heavy drinking, a TIA, arterial fibrillation, diabetes, smoking and high blood pressure. Strokes can be fatal very often and are the most frequent cause of disability which is severe.

The best way to ensure avoiding a stroke is to take the medication which has been prescribed regularly, maintain a healthy life style and exercise regularly, drink only limited amount of alcohol, control ones weight, diabetes and high blood pressure and do not smoke.

Once a stroke has occurred the person should ensure a change in their lifestyle and if any of the factors which lead to a stroke exist, do away with them. They should be strict in their fitness regime and ensure that their food is fat free, should loose weight and should control the other factors which have lead to this mishap. In case the person is a smoker and consumes alcohol, this should be stopped immediately.

Medication prevents clotting of the blood and aspirin maybe prescribed by the doctor. Rehabilitation of a person who has had a paralytic problem after a stroke will require extensive physiotherapy along with counseling, speech therapy if required, and occupational therapy. In case there are clots still persisting in the arteries in the neck region, these can be removed with an operation. The person has to be reassured and motivated into activating his muscle power once again with constant exercises as recommended by the physiotherapist.

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