STROKE

Stroke or Cerebrovascular Accidents

Stroke or Cerebrovascular Accidents

Introduction

Stroke is a rapid loss of brain function. It is occurred due to insufficient circulation of blood to brain. (Adams et al, 2004).

World Health Organization describes the cerebrovascular accidents (CVA) as sudden focal or global cerebral dysfunction at least 24 hours or more in duration, vascular in origin and it can be fatal.

Stroke remains a leading cause of death and disability, and patient outcomes are dependent on early access to emergency treatment. However, despite public education campaigns, many patients and cares fail to recognize the symptoms of stroke and often delay accessing medical services.

This paper reports first-time stroke patients' description of their symptoms and the sequence of events which lead them to seeking medical treatment.

Discussion

According to World Health Organization (WHO), cerebrovascular accident (CVA), stroke or stroke manifest abrupt development of clinical signs of focal or global disturbance of cerebral function with symptoms lasting 24 hours or longer and lead to death, with no other apparent cause other than vascular damage.

Despite public awareness campaigns those at highest risk of stroke consistently demonstrated the poorest level of knowledge (Hickey et al, 2009).

In the US, the public are educated to identify five warning signs established by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (2005). These signs include sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg, sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking or maintaining balance or sudden severe headache and adds a sign on difficulty swallowing and elaborates on visual impairment.

Research studies have shown that there is a global knowledge deficit among the general population of the signs and symptoms of stroke (Kleindorfer et al 2009), particularly among older adults and those with lower levels of education (Ferris et ...