Silent Stroke -a Drag on Quality of Life

Abstract

A stroke is a condition because of something blocking blood supply to part of the brain or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts disrupting the blood supply to a particular portion of the brain. In either case, parts of the brain become damaged or die, manifesting as lasting brain damage, long-term disability, or even death. Symptoms include dizziness, numbness, weakness on one side of the body, and problems with talking, writing, or understanding language. Most of us have heard or seen of a case of a stroke, with symptoms like slurred speech, loss of balance, difficulty speaking, and so on - but not many know that one can have a stroke without even knowing it? known as a silent stroke or Mini-stroke or asymptomatic cerebral infarction. A silent stroke refers to a stroke that doesn't cause any noticeable symptoms. It is recognized by a brain (CT scan or an MRI) imaging that will show white spots or lesions where your brain cells have stopped functioning. Brain scans can detect one or multiple silent strokes. Most silent strokes are caused by a clot that blocks a blood vessel in the brain. The blockage prevents blood and oxygen from reaching that area, causing nearby brain cells to die. While in the middle-aged people with no apparent signs of stroke about 10% have brain damage from one and this rate increases to 25% among people over 80 years. The damage that happens is permanent, but therapy might help stimulate other parts of the brain so you regain abilities that may have weakened. Common Silent Stroke Symptoms include sudden lack of balance, temporary loss of basic muscle movement slight memory loss and sudden changes in mood or personality and issues with cognitive skills and ability. As different parts of our brain control different parts of our body, our symptoms will depend on the part of our brain affected and the extent of the damage but usually begin suddenly. Therefore, it is critical to seek diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. The chances of getting a stroke go up among elderly, diabetes, hypertensives, persons with heart disease, vascular disease, or atrial fibrillation. The management of silent strokes involves prescribing medications for blood thinning, to lower blood pressure, blood sugar, and serum cholesterol medications to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The significant burden of stroke on the mortality rates in India, is well-documented, but robust data regarding the aggregates of evidence on the quality of life (QOL) of stroke survivors is limited. Therefore, it is critical to seek diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible. Material & Methods: This manuscript is based on a real case study in last 15 months. Chidambar a male of 70 years with history of Diabetes for over 15 years and Hypertension for 10 years, both poorly controlled. He had left sided hemiparesis following a stroke in January 2022, that resulted in left sided hemiparesis, speech, and cognitive signs. Since early 2023 he is suffering frequent falls, vomiting, urinary incontinence, changing moods and worsening memory and dementia indicative recurrent silent strokes, that have worsened his quality of life. Review of literature and published articles have added value to this article.