Do you know what cerebral ischemia is? Also known as ischemic strokeThis is an interruption of blood flow in some region of the brain, which leads to an insufficient supply of oxygen in that area. This can lead to very serious symptoms and sequelae.

In this article we will know what this medical problem consists of and the two types that exist; in addition, we will know the causes that originate it, the risk factors, its most frequent symptoms and the treatment that is applied.

Cerebral ischemia: what is it?

In Spain, approximately every 6 minutes a person suffers from cerebral ischemia. This medical problem affects both men and women at the same rate; however, more than half of the people who die from it are women.

But what exactly is cerebral ischemia? A cerebral ischemia is a medical problem that can cause serious consequences. Brain ischemia is also called ischemic strokecerebral infarction, or stroke, consists of an interruption of blood flow in the brain, somewhere in it. This interruption of blood flow often occurs suddenly.

I mean, the blood doesn’t get to some areas of the brain, which means can cause the death of certain nerve cells. This is because they get oxygen and nutrients from the blood. Thus, as we said, cells can die, especially if the time without blood supply is prolonged.

This causes significant injuries and damage to the brain, which translates into sequelae of various types, which we will see later. Cerebral ischemia, considered an ischemic stroke, represents the cause of a type of stroke: the ischemic stroke.

Types of this disorder

We must differentiate two forms of brain ischemia: thrombosis and embolism. In thrombosis, the clot in question has formed in the wall of the cerebral artery. In embolism, on the other hand, the clot has formed in another area of the body (e.g. the heart), and has moved through the bloodstream to a brain vessel.

Causes and risk factors

Normally, the cause of interrupted flow that causes cerebral ischemia has to do with a clot or plaque formed in or around the brain that plugs a blood vessel. This plaque ends up blocking the normal activity of the blood vessels, preventing oxygen from reaching the cells normally.

However, there are people who are more likely to suffer from cerebral ischemia than others. Why? Because of the risk factors. Thus, there are certain risk factors that can increase the likelihood of stroke, such as high blood pressure or blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, lifestyle, smoking, chronic stress or cholesterol.

So, although cerebral ischemia usually occurs suddenly, there are factors that may increase the risk of it. Let’s look at them in detail:

1. High blood pressure

Hypertension is one of the major risk factors for cerebral ischemia, and in particular the one with the greatest weight. As a matter of fact, having too high a blood pressureThe risk of developing cerebral ischemia can be up to five times higher.

2. Diabetes

Diabetes can also increase the risk of cerebral ischemia, accelerating the vascular aging process. So, it’s a disease that affects the blood vessels.

Two ways to prevent it (unless it is type I diabetes) are: maintain a healthy weight (through a balanced diet and regular exercise) and reduce the consumption of sugars and sweets.

3. Smoking

Tobacco use is another considerable risk factor, which can cause clots to appear in the bloodstream and alter the quality of our arteries, clogging them and generally deteriorating cardiovascular health.

Cerebral ischemia

4. Cholesterol

Having high cholesterol means worsening the “health” and condition of our arteries. To reduce this cholesterol, we can choose a healthier diet, foods rich in vitamins and fiber are beneficial, and those containing high amounts of fat, harmful.

5. Physical exercise

As we said, maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help us prevent cerebral ischemia. This means, in addition to eating well, regular exercise. Exercise helps protect the cerebral arteries, taking care of your health, as well as the arteries of the heart.

6. Hormonal contraceptives

If you are taking hormonal contraceptives, you should also be careful, as they can increase the risk of developing cerebral ischemia (although the risk they usually carry is low).

This is explained by the fact that these birth control pills contain certain hormones that may promote the formation of clots. Clots are a risk that predisposes you to stroke. Thus, in reality, the real risk appears when taking these contraceptives with other risk factors (smoking, obesity, etc.).

7. Older age

The fact that be over 55 years of age poses an additional risk of cerebral ischemia. In fact, every 10 years after that, we have twice the risk of having one. On the other hand, young people (and those under 55) can also suffer from cerebral ischemia, although this is not as common.

Symptoms

The symptoms or sequelae that can appear as a result of suffering a cerebral ischemia will vary greatly from one case to another, and depend on factors such as the brain areas affected, the time without blood supply to these areas, the previous health of the ischemic patient, age, etc..

These symptoms may affect different functions of the body (vision, language, mobility…), the following symptoms are common: loss of vision, difficulty swallowing, difficulty speaking, dizziness, headaches, confusion, numbness, difficulty walking and/or maintaining balance, loss of mobility or paralysis (on one or both sides of the body), loss of other cognitive functions such as memory, etc.

Treatment

Treatment of cerebral ischemia includes as its main element prevention. In fact, there are some signs and symptoms of alarm that may be indicating the proximity of a cerebral ischemia (e.g. loss of strength, loss of vision, sudden headache…).

These signs and symptoms should be noted. On the other hand, once a stroke is detected, the emergency services should be notified promptly. It will then be the medical staff who will attend to the patient, controlling his level of oxygenation, blood pressure, blood sugar, etc..

Once he’s had the stroke, the aftermath will vary greatly from case to casedepending on the area of the brain affected. Thus, depending on these the treatment to apply will be one or the other. Generally, neurorehabilitation treatments are chosen, which have the mission of enhancing lost cognitive functions (memory, attention, language…), and which also include different services: speech therapy, physiotherapy, psychology, etc.

Bibliographic references

  • Arango-Davila, C., Escobar-Betancourt, M., Cardona-Gómez, G.P. and Pimienta-Jiménez, H. (2004). Physiopathology of focal cerebral ischemia: basic aspects and projection to the clinic. Rev Neurol, 39(2): 156-165.

  • Martínez-Vila, E. and Irimia, P. (2000). Stroke risk factors. ANALES Sis San Navarra, 23(Suppl. 3): 25.31.

  • MedlinePlus. (2019). Stroke.

  • VP Moreno, A García-Raso, MJ García Bueno. (2008). Vascular risk factors in patients with ischemic stroke. Distribution by age, sex and stroke subtype. Rev Neurol, 46 (10): 593-598.