“Playing music has been found to increase the volume and activity in the brain’s corpus callosum — the bridge between the two hemispheres — allowing messages to get across the brain faster and through more diverse routes. This may allow musicians to solve problems more effectively and creatively, in both academic and social settings.”
Brain Pickings (www.brainpickings.org)
“The idea that music can heal the soul or “soothe the savage breast” is well-known. Music’s healing power over the body has also attracted attention from scientists who aim to test this ancient wisdom. A growing body of research supports the claim that music can alleviate physical pain. Studies have shown music to be an effective pain reliever, both on its own and as an adjuvant in connection with other types of therapy. Long-term studies of music therapy in pain management have shown it to be associated with improved quality of life and reduced consumption of pain relievers.”
Jeanette Bicknell Ph.D. Psychology Today
“Your stroke treatment begins the moment emergency medical services (EMS) arrives to take you to the hospital. Once at the hospital, you may receive emergency care, treatment to prevent another stroke, rehabilitation to treat the side effects of stroke, or all three.”
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
“In the United States, about 795,000 people suffer a stroke each year. Someone has a stroke every 40 seconds, and every 4 minutes someone dies from stroke. There are more than 140,000 deaths each year from stroke. Statistics show that about 40% of stroke deaths occur in males and 60% in females. Stroke is also the leading cause of serious long-term disability in the United States. There are over 7 million stroke survivors live in United States and two-thirds of them are currently disabled. Around 25% of people who recover their first stroke will have another within 5 years.”
Stroke Awareness Foundation (www.strokeinfo.org)
Signs and Symptoms of a stroke happening:
Symptoms of stroke include trouble walking, speaking, and understanding, as well as paralysis or numbness of the face, arm, or leg.
People may experience the following:
Muscular: difficulty walking, paralysis with weak muscles, problems with coordination, stiff muscles, overactive reflexes, or paralysis of one side of the body
Visual: blurred vision, double vision, sudden visual loss, or temporary loss of vision in one eye
Whole body: balance disorder, fatigue, or lightheadedness
Speech: difficulty speaking, slurred speech, or speech loss
Sensory: pins and needles or reduced sensation of touch
Facial: muscle weakness or numbness
Limbs: numbness or weakness
Also common: difficulty swallowing, headache, inability to understand, mental confusion, numbness, or rapid involuntary eye movement
What is done for a stroke regarding diagnostic tooling:
To determine the most appropriate treatment for your stroke, your emergency team needs to evaluate the type of stroke you’re having and the areas of your brain affected by the stroke. They also need to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms, such as a brain tumor or a drug reaction. Your doctor may use several tests to determine your risk of stroke, including:
CT scan of brain tissue damaged by stroke
Cerebral angiogram A cerebral angiogram showing a carotid aneurysm due to a stroke.
Physical examination. Your doctor will ask you or a family member what symptoms you’ve been having, when they started and what you were doing when they began. Your doctor then will evaluate whether these symptoms are still present.
Your doctor will want to know what medications you take and whether you have experienced any head injuries. You’ll be asked about your personal and family history of heart disease, transient ischemic attack or stroke.
Your doctor will check your blood pressure and use a stethoscope to listen to your heart and to listen for a whooshing sound (bruit) over your neck (carotid) arteries, which may indicate atherosclerosis. Your doctor may also use an ophthalmoscope to check for signs of tiny cholesterol crystals or clots in the blood vessels at the back of your eyes.
Blood tests. You may have several blood tests, which tell your care team how fast your blood clots, whether your blood sugar is abnormally high or low, whether critical blood chemicals are out of balance, or whether you may have an infection. Managing your blood’s clotting time and levels of sugar and other key chemicals will be part of your stroke care.
Computerized tomography (CT) scan. A CT scan uses a series of X-rays to create a detailed image of your brain. A CT scan can show a hemorrhage, tumor, stroke and other conditions. Doctors may inject a dye into your bloodstream to view your blood vessels in your neck and brain in greater detail (computerized tomography angiography).
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI uses powerful radio waves and magnets to create a detailed view of your brain. An MRI can detect brain tissue damaged by an ischemic stroke and brain hemorrhages. Your doctor may inject a dye into a blood vessel to view the arteries and veins and highlight blood flow (magnetic resonance angiography, or magnetic resonance venography).
Carotid ultrasound. In this test, sound waves create detailed images of the inside of the carotid arteries in your neck. This test shows buildup of fatty deposits (plaques) and blood flow in your carotid arteries.
Cerebral angiogram. In this test, your doctor inserts a thin, flexible tube (catheter) through a small incision, usually in your groin, and guides it through your major arteries and into your carotid or vertebral artery. Then your doctor injects a dye into your blood vessels to make them visible under X-ray imaging. This procedure gives a detailed view of arteries in your brain and neck.
Echocardiogram. An echocardiogram uses sound waves to create detailed images of your heart. An echocardiogram can find a source of clots in your heart that may have traveled from your heart to your brain and caused your stroke.
You may have a transesophageal echocardiogram. In this test, your doctor inserts a flexible tube with a small device (transducer) attached into your throat and down into the tube that connects the back of your mouth to your stomach (esophagus). Because your esophagus is directly behind your heart, a transesophageal echocardiogram can create clear, detailed ultrasound images of your heart and any blood clots.
In reality going to an ER room if the pt comes suspected of a stroke and has symptoms or not than nationally in America the hospitals are to do the following: -A neuro assessment should be done in 10 minutes
-A CT SCAN ordered and pt sent off for the test and done within 25 minutes.
-The CT SCAN read and interpreted by the radiologist / neuro doctor. At this point it tells the MD if the pt has a blockage or a hemmorage in the brain that caused the stroke. Remember a ischemic stroke and hemmoragic stroke are treated differently.
We’ll get into treatment tomorrow in Part III Treatment of a stroke.
“Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in your blood. Your body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells, but high levels of cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease. With high cholesterol, you can develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels. Eventually, these deposits grow, making it difficult for enough blood to flow through your arteries. Sometimes, those deposits can break suddenly and form a clot that causes a heart attack or stroke. “.
MAYO CLINIC
“1-According to the Heart Foundation, listening to your loved one is one of the most important things you can do to help their recovery. Hearing their needs and concerns will mean much more than rushing to give advice. 2-There are many ways to offer support to your loved one, including going with them to their cardiac rehab, recommending a support group, planning a social outing for the two of you, 3- Regular breaks from caring are essential to your own health, says the Heart Foundation. If you don’t take care of your own health, you won’t be able to care for others. 4- Just by reading this article, you’re taking the initiative to inform yourself, which is a fantastic step forward. It’s a great idea to read up to make sure you’re well informed on heart attack care, as your loved one may be overwhelmed,”
heartattackfaq.com
People who are at risk for the development of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction include those who fall into any of the categories listed below:
People with a history of cardiovascular heart disease, Males, Smokers, People with high cholesterol, People with high blood pressure, Obese people, People with diabetes, People who suffer stress., People who live a sedentary life style, Heredity is a powerful factor that contributes to early heart disease. Being male is a risk factor, but the incidence of heart disease in women increases dramatically after menopause.
**The risk factors to concentrate upon are those that can be modified. These include cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity, sedentary life style and stress. Cigarette smoking causes many deaths from myocardial infarction and other heart diseases. Smoking contributes to almost half of the heart attacks of women under age 55.*
***Stopping smoking can greatly reduce your chances of having a heart attack. Controlling blood pressure can reduce your risk of heart attack. Lowering cholesterol to safe levels through diet and medications can reduce your risk and may even lead to some regression of the plaques already present. Lean body weight and a regular exercise program are helpful.
****If you are diabetic, precise control of your diabetes will help reduce your risk of blood vessel damage due to diabetes. Stress is a risk factor that is common, difficult to quantify and difficult to control effectively over time. Methods of stress reduction include meditation, regular exercise, time management, and a supportive environment.
Chest pain is the most common symptom of a heart attack. The chest pain is usually a burning or pressure sensation beneath the mid or upper breast bone. The pain may radiate into the upper mid back, neck, jaw or arms. The pain may be severe but often is only moderate in severity.
There may be associated shortness of breath or sweating. If patients have had angina previously, the heart attack pain will feel the same as their usual angina only stronger and more prolonged. If you have a pain like this that lasts longer than 15 minutes, it is best to be evaluated immediately.
Calling your medic unit is the fastest and safest way to ask for help. If you have symptoms like this that wax and wane, this is often a warning sign that a heart attack is about to occur and prompt medical attention is needed.
Once you are in an emergency room or a doctor’s office an electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) will be obtained. This is often helpful in diagnosing a heart attack. Sometimes, however, the test is normal even when the heart injury is present but usually a great diagnostic tool.
When heart cells die, certain enzymes present in heart cells are released into the bloodstream that serve as a marker of heart injury (troponin I and CPK or CK-MB). These enzymes can be measured by blood tests. The amount of enzyme released into the blood stream also helps assess how much heart damage has occurred.
The best way to limit the size of a heart attack is to restore the flow of blood to the heat muscle as fast as possible. There are two basic methods to do this.
1-Drugs called thrombolytics are quite effective.
Because most heart attacks are caused by clots forming within the coronary artery, dissolving the clot quickly will restore blood flow and remove the symptoms.
The sooner these drugs are given, the quicker the blood flow will be restored.
An alternative method involves the use of a angiogram– its a procedure that allows the visual display of the blockage on a computerized screen in the OR for the surgeon. This is done through a special catheter with a camera at the end of it.
Commonly followed is a balloon angioplasty-this procedure is a balloon inflating and deflating breaking the blockage up on the computerized screen to make the blocked artery patent again to give good blood supply back to the area where the heart attack was.
Both angiogram and angioplasty is performed in the same surgical procedure.
This involves taking the heart attack victim promptly to the cardiac cath lab in the hospital.
An angiogram is performed to show the blocked blood vessel leading to the heart attack. Then a balloon catheter is placed across the blockage and flow is restored.
2-Stent – another common surgical procedure (this is a device that assists in holding the blood vessel open permanently or sometimes needs to be replaced). This is put in place where the artery needs to stay open, where the MI occurred, this creates a large channel for better blood supply to the area where the myocardial infarction occurred or close to it.
3-Bed rest and blood thinners – Smaller heart attacks, often those not producing significant abnormalities on the ECG are often treated with bedrest and blood thinners such as heparin or other meds to reduce the workload of the heart . These heart attacks are called non-transmural myocardial infarctions. Before discharge, x-ray studies of the heart arteries are often carried out to see if angioplasty or surgery will be necessary.
Following thrombolytic (clot reducing) therapy, angiogram are often performed to outline the coronary anatomy to help determine if additional therapy such as angioplasty or bypass surgery is indicated. This may be done during the initial hospitalization or later as an outpatient procedure.
Following the treatment would be frequent cardiac visits to the cardiologist at first for follow up visits to than q3mths to q6mths to than just yearly if things all go well. The M.D. will know the answer to that.
1-Abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias). Electrical “short circuits” can develop, resulting in abnormal heart rhythms, some of which can be serious, and may lead to death.
2-Heart failure. A heart attack might damage so much heart tissue that the remaining heart muscle can’t pump enough blood out of your heart. Heart failure can be temporary, or it can be a chronic condition resulting from extensive and permanent damage to your heart.
3-Sudden cardiac arrest. Without warning, your heart stops due to an electrical disturbance that causes an abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia). Heart attacks increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrest, which can cause death without immediate treatment.
“A heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction, happens when a part of the heart muscle doesn’t get enough blood.
The more time that passes without treatment to restore blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart muscle.”
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)