Right hemisphere stroke
stroke occurs when blood flow to our brain get compromised. This is caused by a blood clot blocking a vessel in our brain, or a torn vessel bleeding into our brain. The right side (hemisphere) of brain controls the left side of your body. . It also controls certain calculation tasks, such as judging distance, size, speed, or position A stroke in the right hemisphere often causes paralysis in the left side of the body. This is known as left hemiplegia.
what causes Right hemisphere stroke
Ischemic stroke: when an artery to our brain gets blocked which may be caused by having plaque in an artery. Plaque occurs when fatty deposits and other things build up in an artery or blood clot blocks the artery.The clot can break loose from an artery somewhere else and travel to the brainstem. This clot may get stuck in a narrow blood vessel, stopping blood and oxygen from reaching our brain. This is called an ischemic stroke. Most strokes are ischemic strokes.
Hemorrhagic stroke: some times, blood vessel may break and leak if a clot gets stuck in it, or the vessel wall is weak. Blood then flows out of the vessel and into brain tissue. This is called a hemorrhagic stroke
Risk factors of Right hemisphere stroke
1) older people of or above 55 years of age
2) women using birth control pills, or take replacement medicine after menopause.
3) father or mother had a stroke,
4) have high blood pressure, or blood vessel or sickle cell disease that was not treated.
5) have atrial fibrillation, diabetes or other heart or blood vessel condition
Signs and Symptoms of right sided stroke
the common symptoms of right sided stroke are
a) these people generally have problems with their spatial and perceptual abilities due to which they misjudge distances (leading to a fall) or be unable to guide their hands to pick up an object, button a shirt or tie their shoes. Due to their impaired ability to judge spatial relationships, survivors of right-hemisphere strokes often have judgment difficulties that show up in their behavioral styles.
b) these patients also experience left-sided neglect.. left-sided neglect causes the survivor of a right-hemisphere stroke to “forget” or “ignore” objects or people on their left side.
c) they may be unable to remember what they ate for breakfast that morning.
d) Vision problems are common these people may not see objects to their left.
e) Language and speech problems are present.they may not be able to understand what others are saying. these people may have trouble in reading , writing and speaking. When they talk, they may not show any feeling.
Treatment of right hemisphere stroke
Treatment depends on what causes stroke, signs and symptoms of the patient
1) Cholesterol medicine should be given to decrease (lower) the amount of cholesterol (fat) in the blood.
2) if stroke was caused by a blood clot, following medicines should be given
Thrombolytics: This medicine is given to break apart blood clots and help blood flow more easily.
Aspirin: This is medicine that may be given to help thin the blood to keep blood clots from forming.
Antiplatelets: This medicine is given to prevent blood clots from forming.
3) sedation medicine will help to decrease the pressure in our brain. It can also help to decrease pain
4) other medicine to treat diabetes, high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure or to prevent seizures
5) surgery should be done if medication is not helpful.it include
Ventriculostomy: it should be done if too much fluid and swelling around our brain is present, a tube may be placed through skull to drain the fluid. This tube also checks the pressure in our brain.
Craniotomy: If stroke was caused by bleeding into brain tissue, surgery on our brain is done to remove the blood or fix a damaged blood vessel.
Carotid endarterectomy: Blocked carotid arteries can cause poor blood flow to your brain. If such carotid arteries are blocked, surgery called carotid endarterectomy may be done. This surgery widens the arteries so that blood can flow more easily.
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