Understanding Hemorrhagic stroke

A hemorrhagic stroke is a critical condition that occurs when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, leading to bleeding in or around the brain. This disrupts normal blood flow, depriving parts of the brain of oxygen, while the accumulating blood creates pressure that can damage or destroy nearby brain tissue.

Without immediate medical intervention, hemorrhagic strokes can result in significant brain damage, long-term disability, or even death.

Common causes of Hemorrhagic Stroke

  • Hypertension: The most common cause of hemorrhagic stroke. 
  • Aneurysms: Bulges that form in weak spots of blood vessel walls. Smoking and hypertension are risk factors for developing aneurysms. 
  • Arteriovenous malformation (AVM): A condition where blood vessels that carry blood to and from the brain tangle together instead of connecting to the brain’s smaller blood vessels. 
  • Blood thinners: Taking too many blood thinners, also known as anticoagulants, can increase the risk of a hemorrhagic stroke. 
  • Head trauma: Such as from a car accident.

What are the symptoms of a hemorrhagic stroke?

The symptoms of a hemorrhagic stroke can include one or more of the following:

  • One-sided weakness or paralysis 
  • Loss of sensation on half side.
  • Aphasia (difficulty with or loss of speaking ability) or slurred or garbled speaking (dysarthria).
  • Headaches 
  • Light sensitivity, where bright lights cause severe headache-like pain (photophobia).
  • Dizziness or vertigo.
  • Nausea and vomiting.
  • Seizures

How are hemorrhagic strokes treated?

Blood Pressure Management

Since high blood pressure is the leading cause of hemorrhagic strokes, one of the first steps in treatment is to lower blood pressure to a safe range. Reducing blood pressure can help limit the amount of bleeding in the brain, and also promotes clot formation, allowing the damaged blood vessel to seal more effectively.

Clotting Support

Normally, when bleeding occurs, the body initiates a process called hemostasis. This is how the body forms clots to stop the bleeding and repair the damage.

However, in some cases of hemorrhagic stroke, the body’s clotting mechanism may not function properly. In these instances, the focus is on enhancing the body’s ability to form clots. This often involves administering medications or blood products that promote clotting, such as vitamin K, prothrombin complex concentrates, or other clotting factor infusions.

Surgery

A serious complication of hemorrhagic stroke is the buildup of blood that can exert dangerous pressure on surrounding brain tissue. When this occurs, emergency surgery may be required to remove the accumulated blood and relieve the pressure on the brain, helping to prevent further damage.

Hemorrhagic Stroke rehabilitation

It’s common for people to experience lingering effects in the days and months following a stroke. In many cases, symptoms may slightly worsen in the first few days, but improvement typically follows with time.

Because of these lasting effects, various therapies and hemorrhagic stroke rehabilitation are crucial for recovery. Some therapies help individuals regain their pre-stroke abilities, while others focus on relearning skills or adapting to new ways of doing things.

The brain has an extraordinary ability known as neuroplasticity, which allows it to adapt and reorganize itself. This means the brain can sometimes “re-map” functions to undamaged areas, helping restore lost abilities. Many hemorrhagic stroke rehabilitation techniques harness this capability, encouraging and accelerating the brain’s natural healing process.

Hemorrhagic Stroke rehabilitation can take many forms, including:

  • Speech therapy. This type of therapy focuses on the parts of your brain that manage your ability to speak and understand others when they’re talking. It also can help if you have any kind of weakness or loss of ability to control muscles in your mouth and throat. Speech therapy can not only help you talk, but can also help with breathing, swallowing, and eating or drinking.
  • Physical therapy. This therapy approach focuses on improving muscle strength and control, especially with muscles in your arms, hands, legs and feet. This type of therapy can help you regain abilities like walking, dressing yourself or eating. It can also help you adapt if you have a permanent or long-term loss of an ability.
  • Occupational Therapy. Occupational therapy helps stroke survivors regain independence in performing daily tasks like dressing, grooming, bathing, and eating independently, adapting the home environment and using adaptive equipment, such as grab bars, reachers, and utensils with special grips.
  • Cognitive therapy. This kind of therapy helps strengthen your mental abilities. The main focus of this kind of therapy is improving your thinking, concentration and memory abilities.
  • Balance Training.  When balance on the affected side requires active focus, incorporating gamification can be highly beneficial. Using a target-based approach along with increased attention to achieving balance helps engage the patient more fully. This method encourages active cognitive involvement, making practice more effective and motivating during rehabilitation activities.
  • Robotic Hand. The robotic assistance provides targeted therapy to strengthen muscles, improve coordination, and promote neuroplasticity in the affected hand. By incorporating gaming elements into hand rehabilitation, stroke survivors are motivated to participate in repetitive exercises, leading to faster and more significant gains in hand function and independence.