About 25 percent of people who recover from their first stroke will have another stroke within five years. Of the more than 700,000 people affected every year, about 500,000 of these are first attacks and 200,000 are recurrent. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States.
Intracranial atherosclerosis is responsible for approximately 40,000 of these attacks per year, representing 10 percent of all ischemic strokes. Cerebrovascular disease is the most common life-threatening neurological event in the U.S.There were an estimated 157,803 cerebrovascular-related deaths in 2003 138,397 of which were in people age 65 and older.Once brain cells die, they cannot regenerate, and devastating damage may occur, sometimes resulting in physical, cognitive and mental disabilities. Without oxygen and important nutrients, the affected brain cells are either damaged or die within a few minutes. Whatever the underlying condition and cause are, it is crucial that proper blood flow and oxygen be restored to the brain as soon as possible. During a hemorrhagic stroke, an artery in or on the surface of the brain has ruptured or leaks, causing bleeding and damage in or around the brain. Often, the underlying cause of an ischemic stroke is carotid arteries blocked with a fatty buildup, called plaque. The jugular and other veins carry blood out of the brain.īecause the brain relies on only two sets of major arteries for its blood supply, it is very important that these arteries are healthy. The vertebrobasilar system sends many small branches into the brain stem and branches off to form the posterior cerebellar and posterior meningeal arteries, which supply the back third of the brain. The vertebral arteries join to form a single basilar artery near the brain stem, which is located near the base of the skull. The vertebral arteries extend along side the spinal column and cannot be felt from the outside. These arteries supply blood to the front two-thirds of the brain. Inside the skull, the internal carotid arteries branch into two large arteries – the anterior cerebral and middle cerebral arteries and several smaller arteries – the ophthalmic, posterior communicating and anterior choroidal arteries.
The carotid arteries split into the external and internal arteries near the top of the neck with the external carotid arteries supplying blood to the face and the internal carotid arteries going into the skull. The carotid arteries are located in the front of the neck and are what you feel when you take your pulse just under your jaw. The heart pumps blood up to the brain through two sets of arteries, the carotid arteries and the vertebral arteries.
0 kommentar(er)
