Ask the Doctor: Stroke

Hello! I’m Harley, a doctor working in Victoria. Welcome back to Ask the Doctor!

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Today, we are talking about stroke.

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What is a stroke?

A stroke describes death to brain tissue caused by disrupted blood supply.

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There are two main types of strokes:

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1. Blood vessel blockage (ischaemic stroke) – most common

An ischaemic stroke is a blockage of an artery in your brain. It’s basically the brain’s version of a heart attack. These blockages are usually caused by bits of fat or blood clots.

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2. Burst blood vessel (haemorrhagic stroke)

A haemorrhagic stroke occurs when an artery bursts. In young people this can occur from a big whack to the head. In older people, arteries become more fragile over time, due to normal aging, high blood pressure, and other habits your doctor probably complains about.

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If the blood supply to the brain is impaired, how quickly does the brain start to die?

Brain tissue is extremely hungry – it uses more energy than any other part of your body. Brain cells begin to die after five minutes without a fresh blood supply; they’d rather die than starve.

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What does it look like when someone has a stroke?

This is a tricky question. The symptoms of a stroke will differ depending on the area of blood supply to the brain that is disrupted.

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Things you might see are:

• A drooping appearance of the face on one side
• Slurred speech, like they are drunk
• Weakness of the arm and leg on the same side of the body
• Confusion

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So what is a mini-stroke?

You might have heard people use the term “mini-stroke” – the medical term for this is Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA).

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Put simply, a mini-stroke occurs when the disrupted blood supply to the brain is brief. The brain is starved of oxygen long enough for the symptoms to appear, but not long enough for the brain tissue to die. Therefore, the person will not have any lasting symptoms (such as weakness of their arm).

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However, it’s important to recognise that a mini-stroke is a BIG warning sign. If someone has had a mini-stroke they are much more likely to have a not-so-mini stroke in the future.

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How do I prevent myself from having a stroke?

1. Treating high blood pressure and high cholesterol
2. 150mins of moderate exercise
   a week
3. Being in a healthy body weight
4. Not smoking cigarettes

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If you think you might need to make changes to improve your health, please speak to your doctor, they’ll be able to give you personalised advice.

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Thanks for reading this month’s article!

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Please write to About Time with any questions you have or suggestions for future topics. Trust me, nothing is off limits – most of my day is spent asking whether people have opened their bowels or farted.