CVD Affect the Brain

A stroke, also known as a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or a cerebrovascular occlusion, is a sudden loss of brain function resulting from interference with the blood supply to one part of the brain. The word stroke is particularly apt: Victims compare it to being struck on the head with a blunt instrument. Strokes usually result from degenerative cardiovascular disease; stroke is the thrid leading cause of dead in the United States. Three types of stroke are shown.

In many strokes are so mild, causing only temporary dizziness ignored, these are called transient ischemic attacks , or TIAs.  Other strores are so severe that they kill within minutes by destroying the part of the brain that regulates heart and lung functions. When makes stroke so devastating is that nearby cells, no longer fed by the blocked or ruptured artery, are deprived of oxygen and begin to die. Because the area of the body controlled by these nerve centers can no longer function normally, a stroke victim may suffer partial paralysis and other crippling afflictions.