A cerebrovascular accident, also known as a stroke, is a disease that damages part of the brain and occurs suddenly.

Talking at the Ho Chi Minh City Health Education and Communication Center last weekend, Master Ngo Ba Minh, People’s Hospital 115, said that the cause of stroke is cerebral blood vessel blockage or brain bleeding.

Women are more likely to die from a stroke.

Signs of suspected stroke

– Distorted mouth, weakness or paralysis of limbs on one side.

– Numbness or loss of feeling on one side of the body.

– Speechless or unable to speak.

– One eye cannot see.

– Confusion, coma.

– There may be headache, vomiting, or seizures.

If the above symptoms appear suddenly and unexpectedly in a seemingly healthy person, while they are resting, sleeping, or working normally, you should immediately think of a stroke.

Risk factors leading to stroke

Hypertension

Hypertension is the most important risk factor for stroke.

Heart-related diseaes

Cardiovascular disease is the second most important risk factor after hypertension.

Smoke

Many studies have proven that smoking is a very important risk factor for stroke.

Alcoholism

Heavy alcoholism, that is more than 60g/day (10g of alcohol is equivalent to 330ml of beer or 100ml of wine or 30ml of spirits) increases the risk of stroke.

Fat

The likelihood of stroke in obese people is many times higher than in normal people.

Diabetes

The risk of stroke in diabetics is 3 times higher than in normal people.

Increased blood cholesterol (blood fat)

Increased blood cholesterol can lead to cholesterol accumulation on the blood vessel walls, thereby forming atherosclerotic plaques in the blood vessels.

Nervous tension

Nervous stress increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, making patients susceptible to increased blood pressure, increased myocardial contractility… Sudden increase in blood pressure can lead to brain hemorrhage or blood clot formation.

Sex

The risk of stroke in men is 1.25 times higher than in women.

Risk factors for stroke in women

According to Dr. Minh, risk factors for stroke that only exist in women include pregnancy, childbirth, menopause and taking birth control pills.

Pregnant women are 13 times more likely to have a stroke than normal people.

Previous research has also shown that using oral contraceptives with high doses of estrogen increases the risk of stroke in women.

Le Phuong