What are the main causes of stroke?
What causes a stroke? A stroke is not a singe disease. It is a group of diseases, with three main types.
Ischaemic stroke – is caused by a blood clot in a narrowed blood vessel (artery) cutting off the blood supply to the brain. This is the most common type of stroke (over 80%). It is like a ‘brain attack’ and similar to a ‘heart attack’ (myocardial infarction). Long term high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes are risk factors;
This is an American image, and so the spelling is slightly different.
Haemorrhagic stroke – is caused by bleeding in or around the brain. There are several causes, e.g. a subarachnoid haemorrhage, which a bleed from a weakness in an artery (blood vessel) called an aneurysm; or bleed into a tumour or other brain abnormalities. Again, high blood pressure is a risk factor;
Transient ischaemic attack or TIA – is also known as a ‘mini-stroke’. It is the same as a stroke, except that the symptoms only last for a short amount of time. This is because the blockage – a small blood clot like in ischaemic stroke – that stops the blood getting to your brain, is temporary.
Summary
We have described what are the main causes of stroke.
Other resource
This a good video from the USA.
