Stroke
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A mini-stroke, or transient ischemic attack, happens in the brain – the center of our body functions. The brain controls how we think, see, talk, walk and feel. Each part of the brain has different jobs that control different parts of how we function. For instance, the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, which includes movement and sensation.
The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and also the speech centers. Vision is controlled by the back of the brain and balance and coordination are controlled by the cerebellum located in the base of the brain.
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A stroke is sometimes called a ‘brain attack’. It happens when a blood clot in an artery breaks and plugs up the flow of blood to an area of the brain. When this happens brain cells begin to die because of lack of oxygen. This takes only 3 minutes of lack of oxygen from arterial supply before the brain cells begin to die. This death of the cells will result in brain damage.
This brain damage is called a stroke. Many times the abilities that are lost include speech, memory or movement. How much damage is done and to what functions depends upon where the stroke happened in the brain and how much of it was damaged.
