A stroke is triggered when a blood vessel in the brain gets blocked or bursts. A common analogy is that it’s like a heart attack in the brain. Blood vessels are critical as they carry nutrients and oxygen to the brain. When a stroke causes a blood vessel to block or rupture, the neurons in the brain are deprived of blood. Without blood, these cells starve and die. This damage triggers different physical and mental changes in stroke victims.

Fortunately, damaged brain cells are not beyond repair. They can regenerate — this process of creating new cells is called neurogenesis. The most rapid recovery usually occurs during the first three to four months after a stroke. However, recovery can continue well into the first and second year. A strong post-stroke care plan can make a world of difference.

What are the Effects of a Stroke?

Strokes can affect everyone differently depending on the severity of the stroke, which side of the brain was damaged, and a person’s overall health before the stroke. The side of the body most affected is opposite the side of the brain that was initially damaged.

• A stroke on the left side of the brain is likely to cause speech problems and a slow, cautious behavioral style
• A stroke on the right side of the brain is more likely to cause vision problems and result in a quick, inquisitive behavioral style
• A stroke in the brain stem is the most severe, causing significant paralysis and speech issues
• Memory loss and motor skill paralysis are common symptoms regardless of where the stroke occurs in the brain

Common physical, mental, and emotional symptoms following a stroke include:

• Muscle weakness
• Trouble walking
• Trouble grasping objects
• Joint pain and rigidity
• Muscle stiffness or spasms
• Numbness or tingling in the arms and legs
• Incontinence
• Vision issues
• An altered sense of touch – such as the ability to feel hot and cold
• Chronic pain syndromes resulting from damage to the nervous system
• Trouble coordinating body movements
• Difficulty swallowing and eating
• Problems with perception such as judging distances
• Speech and language problems – as in processing and/or communicating information (also known as Aphasia)
• Cognitive challenges – memory loss, trouble focusing and remembering
• Emotional distress – fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, frustration
• Depression – afflicting 30-50% of stroke survivors and leading to lethargy, sleep disturbances, lowered self-esteem, and withdrawal

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The Beginning

It most commonly begins during puberty or young adulthood, waxing and waning in frequency and severity over the ensuing years and usually diminishing after age 50. Migraine is a centrally-mediated pain disorder. This means that there is a disorder in the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), involving the nerves and blood vessels, which results in the pain and the neurologic symptoms associated with a migraine headache.

Causes

Migraine is a genetic and chronic disease like asthma or diabetes, not a psychological or social condition. The pain results from signals interacting among your brain, blood vessels, and surrounding nerves. During a headache, specific nerves of the blood vessels are activated and send pain signals to the brain. It’s not clear, however, why these signals are activated in the first place.

There is a migraine “pain center,” or generator, in the mid-brain area. A migraine begins when overactive nerve cells send out impulses to your blood vessels. This causes the release of prostaglandins, serotonin, and other substances that cause swelling of the blood vessels in the vicinity of the nerve endings, resulting in pain.

Symptoms

Nausea is one of the most common symptoms and it worsens with activity, which often results in patient disability. Other common symptoms include:

– Eye pain
– Sensitivity to light or sound
– Feeling very warm (sweating) or cold (chills)
– Pale color (pallor)
– Feeling tired
– Dizziness
– Vomiting
– Loss of appetite

Triggers

Things that can make the headaches more likely to occur include:

– Changing weather conditions such as storm fronts, barometric pressure changes, strong winds, or changes in altitude
– Bright light, fluorescent light, flashing lights, sunlight
– Tension, anxiety
– Being overly tired
– Overexertion
– Missing meals, dieting, or not drinking enough liquids
– Changes in normal sleep pattern
– Loud noises
– Exposure to smoke, perfumes, or other odors
– Certain medications that cause blood vessels to swell
– Overuse or daily use of headache-relieving medications

Types

There are several categories of migraines:

– Common migraine has no “aura.” About 80% of migraines are common.
– Classic migraines (migraine with aura) present with an aura before the headache and are more severe than common migraines.
– A silent or acephalgic migraine is a migraine without head pain but with aura and other aspects of migraine.
– Hemiplegic migraine can have symptoms that mimic a stroke, such as weakness on one side of the body, loss of sensation, or feeling “pins and needles.”
– A retinal migraine causes temporary vision loss in one eye, which can last from minutes to months, but it is usually reversible. This is often a sign of a more serious medical problem, and patients should seek medical care.
– Chronic migraine is a migraine headache that lasts for more than 15 days per month for three consecutive months.
– Status migrainosus is a constant migraine attack that lasts more than 72 hours.

It is important to know what type of headache you have because management varies greatly for different headache types.

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