Life expectancy | Stroke symptoms

Life expectancy

The question of life expectancy in case of stroke depends on the frequency of strokes and their consequences. Every stroke can be fatal. However, the therapy and the patient should also focus on prevention. This is intended to prevent further strokes. After all, every stroke massively reduces the life expectancy of the patient.

Rehab

If the stroke is acute, the first priority is to stabilize the patient. The cause is treated to keep the deficits as small as possible. After acute care, the patient must be sent to rehab to prepare him or her for everyday life.

• The patient’s state of health is improved again and restored through training.
• Rehabilitation makes sense for patients who can achieve a certain degree of independence and the prognosis for the patient is favorable.
• During the inpatient stay in a rehabilitation clinic, a number of therapeutic measures are carried out, depending on the patient’s findings and goals.
• Important building blocks here are physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy and behavioral therapy. But also a variety of other therapeutic measures such as nutritional advice or functional training can be used. Altogether the Reha goes 3-4 weeks and takes place in specialized, neurological facilities.

Causes

Apart from heart attacks, strokes are one of the most common cardiovascular diseases in Germany. Although the stroke has a neurological effect on the patient’s body, the cause is to be found in the vascular system.

• Most strokes are caused by a thrombus that blocks the arteries of the brain that need to be supplied with blood.

  These are ischemic strokes. Such ischemias can occur in the brain directly or in the carotid arteries in the neck. Such a thrombus is a collection of thrombocytes in the blood.

  These can be so large in diameter that they block an artery. Due to the subsequent reduced blood flow in the brain, cells in the brain die and neurological deficits occur.

• Besides the ischemic strokes, there is the small part of hemorrhagic strokes. In this case there is a reduced supply due to a cerebral hemorrhage. The stimulation of an artery and the resulting edema in the brain not only reduces the supply to the brain, but also compresses it in affected areas. This can happen, for example, through traumatic events or the stimulation of an aneurysm in the brain.