The effects of stroke on the brain are closely associated with the signs /symptoms that occur. In other words, the symptoms of stroke that appear are closely dependent of the certain affected region on the brain. Other factors are the severity level of the brain damage and the type of stroke itself. So, the effects of this disease vary from person to person.
You might also like to know more about best foods to prevent stroke, before continuing!
Our brain is so complex. Each region /area of the brain has some crucial functions. There are 3 major parts of the brain; the brain stem, cerebellum, and cerebrum. Cerebrum is the largest part of the brain, which is divided into 2 regions; left hemisphere and right hemisphere.
The brain stem is located on the lowest section that also connects to the spinal cord. And for cerebellum, it is structurally positioned behind the brain stem. Another question; what are factors that increase your risk of having stroke? What else you need to know?
Effects of stroke on the brain
What are effects /symptoms that occur if the brain stem is affected by stroke?
There are a lot of crucial functions controlled by this brain stem. With the main nerves, the brain stem has a significant contribution to control how we move the eyes, how we use the ear for hearing, how we speak & chew, and even the mechanism associated with swallowing.
Furthermore, the brain stem also has some crucial functions for life support, including for breathing, mechanisms associated with blood pressure, and even for heartbeat.
Some common effects of stroke if your brain stem is affected may include:
Through the spinal cord, cerebellum of the brain receives certain sensory information from the body to coordinate some crucial functions, such as to coordinate the balance, fine movement, and muscle action.
Fortunately, the stroke that affects cerebellum is less common, but if it is affected -- some common problems /symptoms that occur may include:
As mentioned before, cerebrum of the brain consists of two major regions; (1) left and (2) right hemisphere.
In general, if there is certain affected area of cerebrum by stroke, the following functions of the body may be impaired:
Unlike the name suggests, left hemisphere doesn’t control the mechanisms of the left side of the body -- but it has crucial function to control the movement of the right side of your body. Moreover, it is also crucial to control how you speak and for your language ability.
And some specific effects that may occur if the left hemisphere is affected by stroke include:
Unlike left-hemisphere, right hemisphere is more functioned to control the mechanisms (movement) of the left side of the body. Other crucial functions are to control perceptual & analytical tasks (like the ability to judge position, size, speed, and distance).
Right-hemisphere stroke can impair the ability to control the movement of the left-side of the patient’s body. Therefore, paralysis that develops also tends to occur in the left-side of the body. Other specific effects of stroke in the right hemisphere may include:
Risk factors of stroke
You might also like to know more about best foods to prevent stroke, before continuing!
Our brain is so complex. Each region /area of the brain has some crucial functions. There are 3 major parts of the brain; the brain stem, cerebellum, and cerebrum. Cerebrum is the largest part of the brain, which is divided into 2 regions; left hemisphere and right hemisphere.
The brain stem is located on the lowest section that also connects to the spinal cord. And for cerebellum, it is structurally positioned behind the brain stem. Another question; what are factors that increase your risk of having stroke? What else you need to know?
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| Image credit to medicalcenter.osu.edu |
Effects of stroke on the brain
What are effects /symptoms that occur if the brain stem is affected by stroke?
There are a lot of crucial functions controlled by this brain stem. With the main nerves, the brain stem has a significant contribution to control how we move the eyes, how we use the ear for hearing, how we speak & chew, and even the mechanism associated with swallowing.
Furthermore, the brain stem also has some crucial functions for life support, including for breathing, mechanisms associated with blood pressure, and even for heartbeat.
Some common effects of stroke if your brain stem is affected may include:
- problems associated with your vision
- paralysis /weakness, particularly in the all 4 limbs
- problems associated with the mechanism to control the body’s temperature
- problems associated with speaking, swallowing, & chewing
- lack /loss of coordination or balance
- problems associated with breathing or other heart functions
- and even coma
Through the spinal cord, cerebellum of the brain receives certain sensory information from the body to coordinate some crucial functions, such as to coordinate the balance, fine movement, and muscle action.
Fortunately, the stroke that affects cerebellum is less common, but if it is affected -- some common problems /symptoms that occur may include:
- headache or severe headache
- nausea & vomiting
- dizziness
- problems associated with the balance & coordination (ataxia)
As mentioned before, cerebrum of the brain consists of two major regions; (1) left and (2) right hemisphere.
In general, if there is certain affected area of cerebrum by stroke, the following functions of the body may be impaired:
- bladder /bowel control problems
- ability for orientation /perception to surroundings may also be affected
- vision problems
- language & speech problems
- problems associated with the mechanism of emotional control
- lack /loss ability for self-care
- problems associated with cognitive ability (such as memory, thinking, judgment, & reasoning)
- difficulties in swallowing
- sexual problems
- and problems associated with sensation & movement
Unlike the name suggests, left hemisphere doesn’t control the mechanisms of the left side of the body -- but it has crucial function to control the movement of the right side of your body. Moreover, it is also crucial to control how you speak and for your language ability.
And some specific effects that may occur if the left hemisphere is affected by stroke include:
- Paralysis that tends to occur in the right-side of your body.
- Aphasia! It is a condition to represent a wide range of problems associated with language & speech.
- Left-hemisphere stroke also can put patient at higher risk of having a cautious & slow behavioral style. She usually will need more frequent feedback & instruction to complete certain tasks.
- Patient may also experience memory problems (such as difficulty in reading, writing, and learning new information).
- Visual problems, particularly homonymous hemianopsia.
Unlike left-hemisphere, right hemisphere is more functioned to control the mechanisms (movement) of the left side of the body. Other crucial functions are to control perceptual & analytical tasks (like the ability to judge position, size, speed, and distance).
Right-hemisphere stroke can impair the ability to control the movement of the left-side of the patient’s body. Therefore, paralysis that develops also tends to occur in the left-side of the body. Other specific effects of stroke in the right hemisphere may include:
- Problems associated with perceptual & spatial abilities. These problems will make patient experience difficulties in judging distances. For instance, patient cannot judge the distance when she/he want to pick up certain object. Patient may also have lack /loss of ability to judge or tell right side-down from side-up when trying to read or understanding a map. Furthermore, patient may also experience difficulty to localize her/his body parts.
- Left-side neglect -- patient tends to ignore /forget certain people or object on his/her left side.
- Short-term memory problem! Patient may still be able to remember her/his certain long-term memories but she/he doesn’t remember to short-term memory. For example, patient may be unable to save the memory of her/his breakfast.
- Changes in behavioral (such as depression and impulsivity).
- And visual problems.
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| Table credit to Leslie Laurien, MSMI |
Risk factors of stroke
There are some factors /conditions that can increase your risk of having stroke. According to a published article on MayoClinic, some risk factors of stroke may include:
- Having cardiovascular diseases.
- Hypertension (high blood pressure). It is not only put you at higher risk of having heart diseases but also stroke (particularly if the blood pressure is over than 120 /80 mmHg).
- Having diabetes. High level of sugar in the blood can affect the blood flow in the artery. You may also like to read the correlation between diabetes and heart disease!
- Lack of physical activity or lack of exercise.
- Having sleep disorder, especially obstructive sleep apnea because it may also affect the oxygen supply to the brain during sleep.
- Having high level of cholesterol, because it also can lead to problems associated with blood flow in the arteries.
- Cigarette smoking, and the use of methamphetamines & cocaine!
- Experience TIA (it is familiar called as ‘mini stroke’ which stands for transient ischemic attack). TIA is also an early alarm of a full stroke.
- Other risk factors of stroke is age (particularly for individuals who are over the age of 55) and gender (men has higher risk if compared to women, but the death rate from stroke in women is relatively higher than in men).
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Image credit to ‘shutterstock’ for illustration
Image credit to ‘shutterstock’ for illustration
