Introduction
A circulatory disorder in the brain can lead to a variety of symptoms. Depending on the extent of the disorder, the symptoms can range from mild visual disturbances to dizziness and even stroke. Since circulatory disorders can potentially herald a stroke, certain symptoms should be clarified.
Risk factors for circulatory disorders are generally smoking, overweight, lack of exercise, unbalanced diet and various diseases such as diabetes mellitus. Circulatory disorders in the brain are often caused by diseases of the cardiovascular system such as atrial fibrillation or vascular calcification (arteriosclerosis) in the area of the brain or neck vessels. A sufficient blood supply is particularly important for the sensitive brain.
Although the brain accounts for only two percent of the total body mass, it consumes a quarter of the total oxygen and sugar intake of the human body. If the brain is no longer supplied with sufficient oxygen due to a circulatory disorder, sensory and perception disorders occur. If a chronic process takes place and the circulatory disorder increases over the years, brain performance can be impaired, resulting in vascular dementia. An acute circulatory disorder in the brain, on the other hand, leads to attacks of sensory and perceptual disorders that last from a few minutes to a few hours and are known as transistoric ischemic attacks (TIA). These attacks are often harbingers of a stroke, which is also caused by an acute circulatory disorder in the brain.
Symptoms
The structure and function of the brain is very complex. For this reason, circulatory disorders in the brain can cause a wide variety of symptoms and complaints. Certain symptoms often give an indication of the affected vessel or area of the brain.
For example, in the case of a circulatory disorder of one half of the cerebrum, the symptoms appear in the opposite half of the body. Sensory disturbances and paralysis may occur, which can be felt on the fingers, face or legs. In addition, there may be disturbances in consciousness or perception.
Impaired vision or loss of vision as well as dizziness, insecurity when walking, speech disorders, nausea and vomiting are also among the possible symptoms of circulatory disorders in the brain. In chronic circulatory disorders, on the other hand, the memory function is more likely to be impaired and the brain performance decreases. You can find detailed information about this under: By which symptoms can one recognize blood circulation disturbances in the brain?
Signs of a blood circulation disturbance of the brain can be among other things suddenly occurring dizziness, language disturbances, disturbances of the co-ordination (no more “normal” going or purposeful moving of the arms or hands possible), feeling disturbances, visual disturbances and paralyses. Paralysis can manifest itself in the legs suddenly giving way, the arm no longer being able to be raised, or paralysis in the area of the facial muscles and the face looking asymmetrical and changed. Overall, however, it must be said that the symptoms caused by a circulatory disorder in the brain can vary greatly.
An emotional disorder refers to a reduced perception of, for example, touch stimuli and is also known as sensitivity disorder or hypaesthesia. There are, however, numerous other forms of sensory perception, such as temperature sensation, pain sensation and vibration sensation. Such an emotional disorder can occur when the blood supply to the brain is reduced, especially when there is a circulatory disorder of one of the two internal carotid arteries or one of the smaller vessels that branch out from it.
However, a sensory disorder can also have its cause further peripherally (i.e. not directly in the brain), for example by damage to the spinal cord or peripheral nerves. The next article may also be of interest to you: Stroke in the spinal cord A sensory disorder can, however, also have its cause further peripherally (i.e. not directly in the brain), for example through damage to the spinal cord or peripheral nerves. The next article might also be interesting for you: Stroke in the spinal cordDizziness caused by a circulatory disorder of the brain is called central vertigo because the brain is considered one of the centers of the body.
In contrast, there is also peripheral vertigo, e.g. that caused by disorders in the area of the inner ear.Circulatory disorders of the brain can occur in a wide variety of places and thus trigger a wide variety of symptoms. A central dizziness is often caused by a circulatory disorder in the area of one of the two vertebral arteries (spinal arteries) that supply the brain stem. These run in the area of the spinal column in the direction of the brain and unite there to form the basilar artery.
In most cases, vertebral dizziness is not the only symptom of a circulatory disorder in the area of one of the two arteries; it can also lead to visual, speech, coordination and sensitivity disorders. A complete paralysis of one or more parts of the body is also called plegie (ancient Greek: blow, paralysis). Often there are also paralyses that are described as incomplete.
Here, for example, the affected person can still move their arm minimally. However, it can also happen that no more movement is possible, but you can still see a movement of the muscle groups, i.e. a muscle contraction. There are two types of paralysis.
In flaccid paralysis, movement is no longer possible and, for example, the arm hangs limply. In spastic paralysis, however, where movement is also no longer possible, there is an increase in muscle tone, i.e. muscle activity. The arm or leg appears stiff and can only be moved by other people (e.g. the treating physician) with force.
The type of paralysis that occurs depends on the location of the trauma. A circulatory disorder of the brain that leads to paralysis usually results in spastic paralysis. Vision problems are a typical neurological symptom that can occur after a circulatory disorder of the brain.
Different types of circulatory disorders lead to different symptoms. For example, arterial occlusion of the retina is characterized by sudden, unilateral blindness without pain, while so-called giant cell arteritis is characterized by bilateral, strongly throbbing headaches in the temporal region. However, certain diseases and habits such as high blood pressure, smoking, vascular calcification (arteriosclerosis), diabetes mellitus or lipid metabolism disorders can also affect the retinal artery.
In the case of a circulatory disorder, parts of the cerebral cortex of the back of the head, also known as the “visual cortex”, can be affected. This can result in brief loss of vision, black flickering, visual field failures, double vision and numerous other visual disorders. In many cases, the limitations subside after a short time.
This is known as “Amaurosis fugax”. It describes a short and sudden loss of vision that rarely has long-term consequences, but is an important warning signal for neurological disorders. There are various theories about the causes of migraine, as it has not yet been clarified how migraine develops.
There are a number of reasons for a circulatory disorder in the brain as a possible explanation for migraine. For example, the headache in migraine is throbbing and increases with each pulse beat, which suggests a problem with the blood vessels. In addition, the brain itself is not pain-sensitive, whereas the blood vessels in the brain have pain-sensitive nerve fibers.
Thus, other circulatory disorders, such as a stroke or inflammation of the blood vessels, also cause headaches similar to migraines. The assumption that a migraine attack is caused by circulatory disorders in the brain is mainly supported by the good efficacy of certain drugs. The so-called triptans are drugs that influence the blood flow in brain vessels and are successfully used against migraine attacks.
Speech disorders are a symptom that occurs relatively frequently in the course of a stroke, usually caused by a circulatory disorder of the brain. It is often observed that the speech disorders slowly subside after therapeutic treatment. This is also often the case with paralysis or partial paralysis in the context of a stroke.
A speech disorder as a result of reduced blood flow to the brain occurs when the area of the brain is affected in which (simply put) speech is understood or planned. These areas are called the Broca area and the Wernicke area. The nature of the speech disorder may ultimately indicate which of the two areas is affected.
However, this is of little importance in everyday clinical practice in the acute phase of circulatory disorders of the brain, since the main goal here, regardless of the affected area, is to restore blood circulation as quickly as possible.The disturbances in speech caused by a circulatory disorder of the brain can be very different. Among other things, it can lead to unclear speech, word finding disorders, repetition of syllables, formation of non-existent words (neologisms) and complete loss of speech. Circulatory disorders in the brain can lead both acutely and chronically to damage to the cerebral cortex, which plays a major role in learning processes, memories and memory skills.
Forgetfulness is a typically insidious symptom that can indicate a progressive circulatory disorder in the brain. It often progresses only slowly and is therefore difficult to distinguish from general forgetfulness or forgetfulness of old age. In particular, degeneration of the blood vessels that progresses in old age and leads to a deterioration of the blood flow in the brain can trigger a form of dementia (vascular dementia) that is initially difficult to distinguish from forgetfulness of old age.
However, this form of forgetfulness can be treated and stopped. Risk factors for this type of dementia are mainly high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes mellitus and various heart diseases. In general, the risk of developing vascular dementia increases with age.
Depression can be a typical but unspecific symptom of a chronically progressive deterioration of the blood supply to the brain. Due to the slow damage to areas of the cerebral cortex, the clinical picture of vascular dementia may be one of the symptoms. Typical are unspecific symptoms such as tiredness, forgetfulness, concentration disorders, a depressed mood and lack of drive.
This can be described as a slight depressive mood. However, it should not be confused with age-related depression, as both diseases can occur in similar patient groups. Circulatory disorders are caused by a narrowing or blockage of the blood vessels.
This can have a variety of causes. The most common cause of circulatory disorders in the brain is calcification of the arteries (arteriosclerosis). In this process, certain substances are deposited in the arterial wall.
Over time, these deposits or so-called plaques grow more and more strongly and narrow the diameter of the blood vessels. A vascular occlusion (embolism) is caused by a blood clot, a piece of tissue or an air bubble (air embolism) that is carried along the bloodstream and blocks the blood vessel. In the area of the brain, vascular occlusion is also called stroke.
Circulatory disturbances in the brain rarely occur due to vascular inflammation (vasculitis). For example, various illnesses or even certain medications or drugs can lead to inflammation of the blood vessels. Chronic occlusion processes in the brain lead to so-called vascular dementia.
In addition, a bulging of a blood vessel (brain aneurysm) in the brain can also lead to circulatory disorders. Such an aneurysm in the area of the brain carries the danger of rupturing, which can lead to heavy bleeding into the cranial cavity and to dangerously increased pressure on the brain. Congenital or acquired malformations of the blood vessels can also cause circulatory disorders in the brain.
A stroke means a functional impairment of the brain due to an insufficient supply of oxygen and other substrates to the nerve cells. This can be caused by a cerebral hemorrhage or the acute occlusion of a venous or arterial blood vessel. A frequent cause of such a blood clot is a cardiac dysrhythmia called atrial fibrillation.
In this condition, the heart beats uncoordinatedly (arrhythmically), which can lead to the formation of a blood clot (thrombus) in the area of the heart. This can then be flushed out into the bloodstream by the pumping action of the heart and from there can enter the vessels supplying the brain and block one of them. As a result, the blood supply in the section of the brain supplied by this vessel comes to a standstill and thus leads to a lack of oxygen.
This is called ischemia. This is why this type of stroke is also called an ischemic stroke. More rarely, a bleeding in the brain is responsible for a stroke, this type of stroke is then called a hemorrhagic stroke.
Possible symptoms of a stroke can include speech disorders, impaired vision, feelings of numbness, confusion, headaches, coordination disorders, sensory disorders, motor disorders, such as paralysis and dizziness. The symptoms vary depending on where in the brain the stroke occurs. A stroke in the cerebellum, for example, shows up with quite different symptoms.TIA is an abbreviation of medical terminology and describes the “transitory ischemic attack”.
It is a transient attack-like circulatory disorder that presents with the same symptoms of a real stroke. These symptoms, however, unlike those of a stroke, completely regress within 24 hours. In the acute stage, there is no clinical distinction between a TIA and a stroke, but the symptoms often disappear very quickly (after one to two hours).
TIAs are often harbingers of a “real” stroke and are therefore taken very seriously. After a TIA has taken place, the patient is usually given acetylsalicylic acid for the rest of his life to inhibit platelet aggregation. A symptomatic circulatory disorder caused by problems in the cervical spine is rare. Nevertheless, cervical spine problems that lead to symptoms such as tension, sensory disturbances, tingling, headaches and similar complaints are very common. However, the most likely reasons for this are nerve damage due to poor posture or degenerative changes in the spine.
