Stroke
What is a stroke?
Stroke is a brain injury that happens when a blood vessel in the brain is blocked or bursts.
Stroke causes differential effects depending on the site of block.
A stroke in the right hemisphere might cause changes in the left side of the body and vice versa.
How does a stroke affect the right and left sides of the brain?
Functional hemispheres of the brain
A block in the left side of the brain causes more occupational difficulty, as it results in difficulty in moving the right side of the body, loss of spoken and written abilities, reasoning and numerical abilities.
A stroke on the right side causes difficulty in moving the left side of the body, lack of music appreciation, spatial relations and vision problems.
Communication challenges
While some have difficulty in understanding words spoken to them, others have difficulty in naming or conversing, reading and writing issues.Some experience just slurring of speech.
Challenges in Judgment or thinking
Acting differently than usual
Acting without thinking
Being moody and feeling more sad than usual
Having trouble organizing things
Not caring about things
or understanding how things work
Difficulty swallowing.
Dysphagia affects more than 50% of stroke survivors.
Fortunately, the majority of these patients recover swallowing function within 7 days, and only 11-13% remain dysphagia after 6 months.
However, longstanding swallowing problems can place them at risk for pneumonia, malnutrition, dehydration, and significantly affect quality of life.
