The Quicker, The Better! Detect and Treat Stroke Early

Did you know that stroke is the 2nd leading cause of death in the world? In fact, stroke is the main cause of physical disability and death in Indonesia; with disability being 11,2% and death at 18,5%. Based on that data alone, it is important to know the symptoms and causes of stroke to avoid long-term effects.

What is Stroke?

Before we go deeper into stroke symptoms and causes, let’s first understand this condition first. Stroke is a condition where the flow of blood supply to the brain is conflicted. There are 2 causes of this condition, which are brain vessel blockage (ischemic stroke) or brain vessel rupture (hemorrhagic stroke). From this we can learn that stroke is divided into 2, ischemic and hemorrhagic.

Although different, both of these conditions cause a certain area of the brain to lack oxygen and nutrients, leading to dead brain cells. It is important for you to know that stroke is a medical emergency condition and it’s important to have medical help when someone is experiencing a stroke. The faster the better, because medical help can reduce the possibility of further brain damage or other complications happening. You can see below the explanation of the 2 stroke types.

Ischemic Stroke

Like we have discussed earlier, ischemic stroke can happen because of a blockage in the brain vessel. However, how can this blockage form? There are 2 main ways of this happening:

1. 2 Main Ways of Blockage Forming

Ischemic stroke happens more often than hemorrhagic stroke, the frequency of it happening is 87% compared to hemorrhagic stroke. Below are the 2 main ways of a blockage forming on ischemic stroke:

a. Thrombosis

You can think of thrombosis like an old-clogged sink. Plaque (fat and cholesterol) gather around the inside of the inner brain vessel wall (atherosclerosis). As time goes by, the opening of the blood vessel becomes narrower due to the plaque, and the blockage will form here.

b. Embolism

When a person has embolism, this means that the clot is formed somewhere else in the body, then flowing along the blood flow until it reaches the brain area. When it finally gets to the brain, this clot will try to get into a too narrow blood vessel, leading to a blockage. This situation is common in atrial fibrillation patients.

2. Ischemic Stroke Symptoms

The symptoms you will be having depends on which part of the brain the stroke is happening in. Usually, these are the symptoms that may happen:

• Paralysis on one part of the face and the body

• Troubled speaking

• Dysartria

• Blurred vision

• Clumsy

• Vertigo

3. Ischemic Stroke Treatment

The most important step in treating ischemic stroke is enabling blood flow back in your brain. Your medic team will try to do this as fast as they can to avoid permanent damage or even death.

Your medical team may do these 2 procedures:

• Thrombolytic therapy: Medicines that are able to damage the blood clot will be used in procedure. It is important to note, the medical team is only able to do thrombolytic therapy if the stroke happens in less than 4 hours. That’s why it is important to immediately visit the nearest hospital if you or anyone you know is experiencing said symptoms. 

• Thrombectomy: This is a procedure to remove your blood clot. Here, your surgeon will insert a catheter to the blood vessel. Then, the catheter will be guided to the blood clot area in your brain. The clot then will be vacuumed or broken down and the pieces will be sucked.

 You may need other treatments, such as:

• Oxygen therapy: During a stroke attack, your brain will be lacking on oxygen. The medical team may give you an oxygen mask to help your brain and body get enough oxygen supplies.

• Intended Mild Hypothermia: Another treatment that the medical team may do is intended mild hypothermia. Here, slowly but steady, the medical team will lower your body temperature. The intention behind this procedure is to slow down the damaging effects of stroke to your brain. However, this treatment is rarely done.

Hemorrhagic Stroke

If ischemic stroke happens due to a blood clot, hemorrhagic stroke happens because of a bleeding in your brain. How could this happen? The bleeding happens because a blood vessel becomes overloaded, then it ruptures due to that reason. This rupture will lead to an abnormal bleeding in your brain, at this moment, your brain will be lacking on oxygen and blood.

Hemorrhagic stroke will also create an extra pressure in your brain, which can also contribute to dying brain cells. Similar to ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke will also create permanent brain damage.

1. Hemorrhagic Stroke Symptoms

Someone can have one or all of the following symptoms:

• Thunderclap headache

• Light sensitive

• Vertigo

• Troubled speaking

• Paralysis in one part of the body

• Hearing, vision, and touch loss

• Neck stiffness

• Nausea

• Seizure

• Loss of consciousness

• Comma

2. Hemorrhagic Stroke Treatments

There are 2 procedures to treat hemorrhagic stroke, your medical team will do one of these procedures:

• Blood clotting assistance: In certain situations, blood clotting is unideal for your health. However, clotting is your body’s natural way to prevent bleeding. Your medical team may give you Vitamin K or Prothrombin Complex Concentrate (PPC) to enhance your body’s ability to stop the bleeding in your brain.

• Blood pressure management: Keeping your blood pressure at a safe level will suppress the bleeding in the brain. This treatment could also help fix the damaged blood vessel. Overall, in this procedure, your medical team will give you blood pressure medicines from the IV pump to keep your blood pressure at the safe level.

• Surgical procedure for hemorrhagic stroke: Blood accumulation from stroke will give too much pressure on blood vessels. You may need an emergency surgery if the stroke you’re experiencing could potentially add intracranial pressure (pressure inside your skull). Therefore, the surgeon will remove the extra blood in order to reduce pressure in your brain.

Get to Know the BE FAST Abbreviation!

The BE FAST abbreviation is a good marker to notice stroke symptoms. However, this abbreviation does lack one component to notice hemorrhagic stroke symptoms. For hemorrhagic stroke, this abbreviation lacks the marker for thunderclap headache. Although lacking in one component, this abbreviation still works well in marking other symptoms in both ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke. It is important to know that other symptoms of stroke may appear better in hemorrhagic stroke than ischemic stroke.

Below is the explanation of BE FAST:

• Balance: Pay attention to the person’s balance, do they look like they are imbalanced?

• Eyes: Make sure whether the person’s vision is still clear or have become blurred or they started seeing double vision.

• Face: You can ask them to smile and see if their face is asymmetrical.

• Arms: Ask them to put both their hands up. Does one arm suddenly fall? Or they can’t even put one of their hands up?

• Speech: You can test this by giving them a simple sentence to repeat back to you. Pay attention to their ability to repeat the sentence, could they say it clearly?

• Time: If you notice one or all of these symptoms, immediately go to the nearest hospital to get help as fast as you can.

What You Can Do To Prevent Stroke?

So, what can you do to ensure that you and your loved ones avoid a stroke? Generally, stroke prevention is quite similar to preventing heart disease; essentially, it focuses on maintaining a healthy lifestyle and controlling risk factors, such as:

• Not smoking

• Avoiding alcoholic beverages

• Keeping blood pressure normal

• Maintaining an ideal body weight

• Exercising regularly

• Consuming healthy foods

• Keeping blood sugar and cholesterol levels within normal range

The stroke prevention efforts mentioned above will have a greater impact if accompanied by regular medical check-ups. Therefore, make sure to get a comprehensive health check-up regularly to maximize your well-being!

Many hospitals offer routine medical check-ups, one of which is Altius Hospitals. In addition to offering medical check-ups, Altius Hospitals also provides attractive promotions that you can take advantage of.

References

1. https://kemkes.go.id/eng/cegah-stroke-dengan-aktivitas-fisik

2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/stroke/symptoms-causes/syc-20350113 

3. Langhorne, P., Bernhardt, J., & Kwakkel, G. (2011). Stroke rehabilitation. The Lancet, 377(9778), 1693–1702. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(11)60325-5

4. Cleveland Clinic. (2022). Ischemic Stroke (Clots): Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24208-ischemic-stroke-clots

5. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (2025). Intracranial Atherosclerotic Disease (ICAD). National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/intracranial-atherosclerotic-disease-icad

6. Cleveland Clinic. (2022a). Hemorrhagic Stroke: What It Is, Causes, Symptoms & Treatment. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23969-hemorrhagic-stroke