Cerebral infarction, also known as ischemic stroke, is a common cerebrovascular disease. Due to the blockage of blood vessels in the brain, blood cannot be delivered to the brain normally, resulting in ischemia and hypoxia of brain tissue, and eventually the death of brain cells.
The morbidity and mortality of cerebral infarction are important public health issues that deserve attention. Globally, the incidence of cerebral infarction is on the rise, which may be related to an aging population, unhealthy lifestyles, and the prevalence of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.
There are many causes of cerebral infarction, the most common of which is atherosclerosis. Long-term chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes can also increase the risk of cerebral infarction.
There are 13.7 million new cases of cerebral infarction in the world every year, and 90 million people have been trapped by cerebral infarction worldwide, and about 5.5 million people die due to cerebral infarction every year. This terrible disease is often on the horizon in autumn and winter.
The temperature in autumn and winter is unpredictable, and the rapid cooling seems to have entered the cold winter in an instant, especially at the turn of autumn and winter, which is more likely to cause blood pressure to rise, increase the pressure on blood vessels, and create conditions for cerebral infarction.
Each of us should pay attention to the subtle changes in our bodies, prepare for protection in advance, and build a healthy line of defense for ourselves and our families.
(1) Sudden feeling of weakness
When cerebral infarction occurs, the blood is like trapped running water, unable to penetrate certain areas of the brain, making the brain cells in these areas like dehydrated plants, gradually withering and losing their original function. If this tragic fate befalls key areas such as the motor cortex, the body's reflexes become sluggish, as if it is bound by an invisible force.
That sudden sense of powerlessness, like a storm without warning, caught people off guard. At some point, it may cause the object in the person's hand to slip quietly, or in a more serious case, make the person completely lose control of the movement of the body, as if trapped in their own body, unable to move.
(2) Slurred speech or difficulty in understanding
When cerebral infarction affects the areas of the brain responsible for language function, patients often experience communication difficulties. These disorders mainly involve the Broca and Wernicke areas in the brain, which are responsible for language production and comprehension, respectively.
Once these areas are damaged, patients can have difficulty conceiving language, which can manifest as difficulty finding the right vocabulary, confusing sentence structure, and slurred pronunciation. Similarly, they may also have difficulty understanding the words of others and feel that what they hear is as elusive as a foreign language. These symptoms may be short-lived or may last for a longer period of time, depending on the individual.
(3) Sudden deterioration of eyesight
A sudden change in vision, especially without warning, can be a warning of a cerebral infarction. The back of the brain, the occipital lobe, is responsible for interpreting visual information from both eyes.
When blood in the occipital lobe** is blocked, people may experience vision ranging from mild blurring to severe visual field loss. This loss of vision can occur suddenly, like a curtain suddenly closed, and vision is suddenly obscured. Sometimes, vision problems are accompanied by headaches or eye pain.
Straining to have a bowel movement
When you strain to defecate, the muscles of the whole body tighten, the blood vessels also contract, and the blood pressure soars instantly. In this process, the pressure in the chest and abdominal cavity also increases, and the pressure on the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular cavities also increases.
If the pressure is too high, the intracranial pressure will suddenly increase, which may lead to serious cardiovascular and cerebrovascular accidents such as cerebrovascular rupture or cerebral infarction. Therefore, maintaining smooth bowel movements is essential for good health.
One sitting is a day
During the cold winter months, many people become lazy to move due to the cold, and sometimes even sit all day. However, this sedentary habit can bring a lot of hidden dangers to the body.
If the blood circulation of the lower limbs is blocked for a long time, especially for the elderly with gradually weakened muscle tone, it is very easy to form venous thrombosis in the lower limbs. Once the blood clot travels to the brain with the bloodstream, it may trigger a cerebral infarction and pose a life-threatening attack.
Go to the morning exercise before dawn
The morning exercise habit of the elderly, like the diligent dawn star, breaks out early, its original intention is good, but in fact there are some hidden health risks. When the morning light has not yet been lifted, the air seems to be filled with the silence of the night, and carbon dioxide seems to be the master of this quiet moment.
Exercising at this time is tantamount to dancing with the thick fog, which invisibly increases the risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The coolness of the morning and the warm sun of the day, like the change of lights on the stage, the temperature difference is so large, like the fluctuation of blood pressure, it also brings a certain amount of pressure to the body.
First of all, controlling blood pressure is an important measure to prevent cerebral infarction. High blood pressure is one of the main risk factors for cerebral infarction, so it is important to keep blood pressure within the normal range. Monitor your blood pressure regularly, follow your doctor's recommended diet and lifestyle, avoid overwork and mood swings, and use antihypertensive medications wisely.
Secondly, lowering blood lipid levels is also the key to preventing cerebral infarction. High blood lipids can lead to blockage of blood vessels and increase the risk of cerebral infarction. We should pay attention to eating a healthy diet, eat less high-fat and high-cholesterol foods, exercise properly, maintain a healthy weight, and have regular blood lipid tests.
Finally, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol is also one of the important measures to prevent cerebral infarction. Both smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can cause damage to vascular health and increase the incidence of cerebral infarction. In order to protect the health of blood vessels, we should actively quit smoking and limit alcohol consumption to reduce the risk of cerebral infarction.
In short, the prevention of cerebral infarction requires us to start from many aspects, such as controlling blood pressure, lowering blood lipid levels, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol.
We should start from our daily life, pay attention to diet and lifestyle, and actively take measures to protect the health of blood vessels and prevent the occurrence of cerebral infarction. At the same time, for patients who already have cerebral infarction, they should also actively carry out **and** training to improve the quality of life.