Effects of a Stroke
October 22, 2011 | Health
A stroke is caused by a sudden blockage of blood flow to the brain. In can also be the result of a ruptured blood vessel in the brain. In either case it will lead to a loss of consciousness, sometimes the loss of speech, and the inhibition of movement of certain body parts.
The effects of a stroke can affect differing people in different ways. But the effects primarily depend upon the area of the brain affected and the degree of damage caused.
Any kind of injury to the brain can result in the senses being affected along with loss of mobility in either the arms or legs. Difficulties may be encountered with either speaking or the understanding of speech.
Apart from having an effect on the senses such as taste, smell, vision, and hearing, a stroke can affect the emotions and sense of awareness in the sufferer. The person may become susceptible to outbursts of tears, or demonstrate extremes of moodiness. If either side of the body has been affected by the stroke, then the person can often tend to lose the sense of awareness of that particular body part and pay little attention to it, or even forget its existence completely.
The way the stroke sufferer perceives things can change too. Very frequently they will not recognize every day objects with which they were familiar with prior to the event, and sometimes their vision can alter, leading to extreme difficulty with judging distances.
Thinking patterns can be interrupted and the victim may experience problems associated with talking, listening, reading and writing. On occasions they may not be aware of exactly what they are thinking. This seems to be more common in victims who have suffered damage at the left side of the brain, where the speech and language recognition centers are located.
It is essential that any person who has suffered a stroke receives the correct therapy to help the person cope with the effects of the stroke.