Hemorrhagic stroke is a type of stroke caused by the rupture of a blood vessel in an area of the brain. This condition can threaten brain function due to loss of oxygen supply to the brain. Hemorrhagic stroke is an emergency condition where patients who experience it need to get medical treatment as soon as possible.
Causes of Hemorrhagic Stroke
The most common cause of hemorrhagic stroke is high blood pressure (hypertension). This is especially true when a person's blood pressure is very high, remains high for a long time, or both.
Other causes of hemorrhagic stroke include:
- Brain aneurysm (abnormal bulging of blood vessel walls in places where they are weaker than normal).
- Brain tumors (including primary brain tumors and metastatic cancer).
- Other conditions involve weakened blood vessels in the brain, such as moyamoya disease or cerebral amyloid angiopathy.
- Blood thinning medications (these can cause bleeding in the brain or make it worse).
- Head injury.
- Ischemic stroke with secondary bleeding.
Hemorrhagic Stroke Symptoms
Symptoms of hemorrhagic stroke vary depending on the location of the blood vessel rupture or the type of hemorrhagic stroke the sufferer is experiencing. Intracerebral hemorrhage generally occurs without warning and worsens after 30-90 minutes.
Hemorrhagic stroke symptoms may include one or more of the following:
- Sudden severe headache.
- Light sensitivity, where bright light causes pain such as severe headaches (photophobia).
- Dizziness or vertigo.
- Nausea and vomiting.
- Aphasia (difficulty with or loss of the ability to speak) or slurred or slurred speech (dysarthria).
- Weakness of one side of the body, paralysis or loss of the sense of touch.
- One-sided loss of all two-sided senses (sight, hearing and touch).
- Stiff neck.
Several efforts can be made to prevent hemorrhagic stroke, including:
- Manage Health Conditions. Such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.
- Eat Healthy Food and Maintain Ideal Body Weight. Body weight and diet play a major role in blood circulation and heart health.
- Regular Health Checks. Problems that can cause a stroke can often be detected long before they have any noticeable symptoms.
- Avoid Risky Lifestyles. This includes smoking and tobacco use (including vaping), prescription drug abuse or drug use, alcohol abuse, and more.
This article was written by dr. Dhira Atman, Sp.BS, FINPS, FINSS, S.Kom (Grha Kedoya Hospital Neurosurgery Specialist)