Stroke (medicine)

Simple English Wiktionary has the word meaning for:

stroke

A stroke is a problem in the brain caused by lack of blood. This can happen if an artery that feeds blood to the brain gets clogged or if it tears and leaks.

A stroke is a medical emergency. It can cause permanent damage. If it is not quickly treated, it may lead to death. It is the third most common cause of death and the most common cause of disability for adults in the United States and Europe.

Facts (factors) that increase the risk for a stroke include Old age, high blood pressure, a previous stroke, diabetes, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, atrial fibrillation, migraine with aura, and thrombophilia (a tendency to thrombosis). Of those factors the most easily corrected (fixed) are high blood pressure and cigarette smoking.

Further reading

• J. P. Mohr, Dennis Choi, James Grotta, Philip Wolf (2004). Stroke: Pathophysiology, medical diagnosis, and Management. New York: Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 0-443-06600-0. 
• Perry, Thomas and Miller Frank (1961). 'Pathology: A Dynamic Introduction to Medicine and Surgery. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. 

Other websites

• The basis for this article was the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke public domain resource at this page
• Canadian Stroke Network
• Registry of the Canadian Stroke Network
• StrokEngine (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Focuses on stroke rehabilitation and interventions
• Cerebrovascular disease and risk of stroke
• "What Happens During a Stroke". NLM. http://health-net-now.blogspot.com/2007/04/stroke-what-happens-during-stroke.html. Retrieved 2007-04-15.  video
• American Stroke Association
• National Stroke Association
• Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
• The Stroke Association UK
• "Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest Warning Signs," from the American Heart Association
• StrokeMD.net
• National Stroke Association of Malaysia
• Study of Outcome of Childhood Stroke UK