Source: BBC Health; The Lancet
A stroke is the interruption of blood to the brain. It is most commonly caused by vascular interruption from a blood clot or cholesterol blockage or cholesterol embolus. Rarely, it may also be caused by fungal endocarditis and fungal emboli following mitral valve replacement surgery.
Strokes have been classified as “brain attacks.” Like heart attacks, strokes can damage and kill tissue and result in temporary or permanent brain, injury, nerve injury (palsy), paralysis, loss of coordination and balance,neurological impairment, loss of speech and death. Predicting them and treating them before they occur can be critically important.
Researchers are calling for new guidelines for GP’s (General Practitioners or Primary Care Providers here in the US) to ensure that blood pressure remains at a steady level. While lower is preferential, it appears to be the fluctuation (change up or down) of blood pressure that determines the risk of stroke. Current guidelines call for a re-check of a high blood pressure only. If that second pressure is normal there is rarely treatment in the form of medication. And medication alone might not be the answer. Studies published in The Lancet have suggested that beta blockers (a common class of heart medication) may increase variation in blood pressure.
Like the fable the tortoise and the hare, it appears that slow and steady really does win the race when it comes to blood pressure and decreasing the risk of stroke or at the very least predicting those patients at risk for stroke.
~Posted by D.M. Schwadron, Esquire