DIABETES AND STROKE

Diabetes and Stroke

Stroke occurred when blood stream to the brain is insufficient. It is considered as an emergency case that should seek for immediate help. There are two types of stroke. The first one is ischemic stroke due to a clot or blockage of blood and oxygen supply to the brain. The second one is hemorraghic stroke or bleeding stroke caused by a rupture of a brain aneurysm or leak of tiny weakened or inflamed blood vessel in the brain.

About 75% of stroke cases are clot stroke. The blockage is caused by either a thrombus or an embolus. A thrombus is a static clot in the blood vessel, while if it is loosing itself and moves following blood stream it is called an embolus. An embolus may fix in another smaller vessel causing the obstruction.

Clot stroke may be preceded by a condition called by transient ischemic attacks or TIA. This a kind of mild stroke indicated by sudden physical weakness, inability to talk, double vision and dizziness. In TIA the recovery of blood circulation is quite fast so that serious neurological damage can be avoided. The survival rate of clot stroke is generally high.

In the bleeding type, as blood flows into the brain it increases the pressure in the brain that may directly kill brain cells. The increased tension may also block blood circulation and destroy brain cells. This condition is reflected as severe headache which is sometimes followed by unconsciousness. Unlike the clot stroke, mortality of massive bleeding is around 80% of the cases.

Cause

The cause of a clot stroke is related to cardiovascular diseases, e.g. atherosclerosis or heart attack. Atherosclerosis is responsible in the formation of a thrombus or embolus that causes the obstruction. After a heart attack the blood flow becomes slower. This creates the possibility to form blood clots.

A bleeding stroke may result from a brain aneurysm rupture. It can also caused by a weakening blood vessel due to consistent strain of high blood pressure. A rare condition is the leaking of arteriovenous malformation, a congenital disease in the brain.

Signs and Symptoms

Stroke symptoms are; sudden loss of vision, strength, sensation and coordination, ability to speak or to understand speech. Impairment may occur to one side of the body, like lack of sensation at one side of the face or one-eye blindness. The patient may also experience a sudden loss of balance followed by nausea and vomiting, hiccup or trouble when swallowing. If the patient shows sudden and severe headache followed by unconsciousness it is the symptoms of bleeding stroke.

Risk factors

Factors that are considered as condition or illness that can lead to stroke are; age over 60’s, gender, high blood pressure, high cholesterol especially Low Density Lipoproteins, diabetes, obesity, smoking, drug abuse, use of birth control pills and stress.

Diagnosis and Treatment

A neurologist should confirm all the stroke symptoms that appear. In addition, the neurologist should conduct a thorough and quick exam to identify the type of stroke, the location of the lesion and the extent of the affected brain area to be able to provide the right treatment. A standard exam like to assist the diagnosis like the examination of blood vessels in the eye, looking for possible unusual noise in the heart and carotid artery of the neck, measuring blood pressure and pulse rate, and test to assess sensation and neurological reflexes. A critical test for stroke includes a CT scan and MRI scan.

Stroke patients are best treated in a hospital to provide the necessary treatment to avoid further brain damage. In clot stroke the conventional medicine is an anti-coagulant like heparin. While in bleeding stroke a surgical operation may be necessary to drain the accumulating blood and clip the ruptured vessel.

After passing the critical condition, the patient should stay in the hospital until the condition is stable. When released from the hospital the patient should be guided by a recovery program to prevent future strokes. The program may include diet and lifestyle changes, drug treatment, and paralysis rehabilitation. A neurologist may also consider a surgical operation there is an indication of critical brain artery narrowing.

Prevention of future stroke

Patients with bleeding stroke should keep their blood pressure at a low level. In clot stroke, anti coagulant like aspirin should be taken. Aspirin is strongly prohibited for patient with bleeding stroke. Be sure to see your doctor regularly and follow his instruction and guidance. Try to run a healthy lifestyle which includes low fat, salt and cholesterol food, exercise regularly, control weight, monitor blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

On the Alert

You should call you doctor if you or someone else is experiencing the following symptoms:

• Sudden loss of vision, strength, sensation and coordination, ability to speak or understand speech.
• Impairment may occur to one side of the body, like lack of sensation at one side of the face or one-eye blindness.
• Sudden loss of balance followed by nausea and vomiting, hiccup or trouble when swallowing.
• Sudden and severe headache followed by unconsciousness which is the symptoms of bleeding stroke

If the symptoms passed quickly, you may experience TIA or transient ischemic attack in the brain. Do not neglect it, report to your doctor to seek immediate medical intervention.

LONG TERM DIABETES COMPLICATIONS

Long Term Diabetes Complications

Diabetes is often untreated very well and tends to be neglected and got the attention of the patient when more serious sign and symptoms of other diseases or disorders appear. There are also many cases where the patients are totally unaware that they suffer from diabetes and visit a physician when the development of diabetes complications comes to their attention. And at this stage the treatment become more complicated. The followings are some common long-term diabetes complication that you should be aware of.     

Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and Diabetes

The fact sheet is showing that CVD is a major complication of diabetes and the leading cause of early death among people with diabetes—about 65 percent of people with diabetes die from heart disease and stroke. Statistics also show that adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to have heart disease or suffer a stroke than people without diabetes.

High blood glucose in adults with diabetes increases the risk for heart attack, stroke, angina, and coronary artery disease. People with type 2 diabetes also have high rates of high blood pressure, lipid problems, and obesity, which contribute to their high rates of CVD. Smoking is another aggravating factor which doubles the risk of CVD in people with diabetes.

To lower the risk of CVD the National Diabetes Education Program strongly recommends a comprehensive control of diabetes and urges optimal management of A1C (a measure of average blood glucose), Blood pressure, and Cholesterol. The ABC treatment goals for most people with diabetes are:

• A A1C (blood glucose) less than 7 percent
• B Blood Pressure less than 130/80 mmHg
• C Cholesterol – LDL less than 100 mg/dl

Eye Problems and Diabetes

Uncontrolled diabetes can harm the eyes and cause blindness. It is the high blood glucose that increases the risk of diabetes eye problems. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in adults age 20 to 74. High blood glucose in diabetes causes the lens of the eye to swell, which changes your ability to see.

To correct this kind of eye problem, you need to reduce your blood glucose back into the target range (90-130 milligrams per or mg/dL before meals, and less than 180 mg/dL one to two hours after a meal). It may take as long as three months after your blood glucose is well controlled for your vision to fully get back to normal.

Blurred vision can also be a symptom of more serious eye problem with diabetes. There are three major eye problems that people with diabetes may develop and should be aware of; cataracts, glaucoma, and retinopathy.

Diabetes Nephropathy - Kidney Disease and Diabetes

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure. Diabetic nephropathy - kidney disease that results from diabetes - is the number one cause of kidney failure. Almost a third of people with diabetes develop diabetic nephropathy.

People with diabetes and kidney disease do worse overall than people with kidney disease, alone. This is because people with diabetes tend to have other long-standing medical conditions, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and blood vessel disease (atherosclerosis). People with diabetes also tend to have other kidney-related problems, such as bladder infections, and nerve damage to the bladder.

Kidney disease in type 1 diabetes is slightly different than in type-2 diabetes. In type 1 disease, kidney disease begins acutely and may start at an early or young age. Overt disease, when present, is obvious after about 15 years of having type-1 diabetes.

Diabetes Neuropathy - Nerve Damage in Diabetes

Diabetes may cause nerve damage called by diabetic neuropathy, which can develop at any time. Significant clinical neuropathy can develop within the first 10 years after diagnosis of diabetes and the risk of developing neuropathy increases the longer a person has diabetes Scientists do not know what causes diabetic neuropathy, but several factors are likely to contribute to the disorder.

High blood glucose, a condition associated with diabetes, causes chemical changes in nerves. These changes impair the nerves' ability to transmit signals. High blood glucose also damages blood vessels that carry oxygen and nutrients to the nerves. In addition, inherited factors probably unrelated to diabetes may make some people more susceptible to nerve disease than others.

Diabetic Neuropathy can be divided as diffuse neuropathy (peripheral neuropathy affecting the feet and hands and autonomic neuropathy affecting the internal organs) and focal neuropathy (Including multiplex neuropathy)

Stroke and Diabetes

Multiple studies have shown that people with diabetes are at greater risk for stroke compared to people without diabetes regardless of the number of health risk factors they have. Overall, the health risk of cardiovascular disease (including stroke) is two-and-a-half times higher in men and women with diabetes compared to people without diabetes.

Brain tissue needs a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients to keep nerve cells and other parts of the tissue alive and functioning. The brain relies on a network of blood vessels to provide it with blood that is rich in oxygen. A stroke occurs when one of these blood vessels becomes damaged or blocked, preventing blood from reaching an area of the brain. When that part of the brain is cut off from its supply of oxygen for more than three to four minutes, it begins to die.

To avoid such painful long-term diabetes complications the best advice is to have a regular blood check to detect the presence of diabetes in the early stage. And if it happened to you, please refer to The Diabetes Reversal Report where your kind find the best natural convenient treatment of diabetes.