What are the symptoms of stroke?

Introduction

Stroke is a medical condition characterized by neurological dysfunction due to focal infarction or hemorrhage, leading to a range of symptoms and outcomes that can significantly impact patient health.

Key Insights from Research Papers

Neuropsychiatric and Emotional Symptoms:
- Depression, anxiety, fatigue, and apathy are common after stroke, affecting at least 30% of patients, with emotional lability, personality changes, psychosis, and mania being less common but challenging to manage.
- Acute ischemic stroke can lead to anxiety and depressive symptoms, influencing neurological outcomes and the psychosocial burden.
Physical and Sensory Symptoms:
- Frequent physical symptoms include headache (27.4%), gait disturbance (10.8%), convulsions (4.4%), and vertigo (2.1%).
- Common sensory and motor signs are paresis (81.6%), sensory deficits (44.5%), speech deficits (24.0%), hemianopia (14.6%), and diplopia (5.5%).
- Facial weakness, limb weakness, and speech problems are the most reported symptoms, with at least two of these being associated with stroke recognition and immediate ambulance calls.
- Weakness, confusion/decreased level of consciousness, speech/language issues, and dizziness/coordination/vertigo are symptoms that significantly prompt a 911 call.
Stroke Recognition and Warning Signs:
- Recognizing at least two symptoms—facial weakness, limb weakness, or speech problems—is associated with stroke recognition and appropriate action.
- Sudden paralysis, weakness or numbness in the face, arm, or leg, sudden blurred or decreased vision, difficulty speaking or understanding, dizziness, and sudden intense headache are crucial warning signs of stroke.
Diagnostic and Prognostic Indicators:
- The presence of acute facial paresis, arm drift, or abnormal speech increases the likelihood of stroke, while their absence decreases the odds.
- Impaired consciousness, hemiplegia, and conjugate gaze palsy are associated with increased early mortality.

Conclusion

Stroke symptoms encompass a wide range of neuropsychiatric, emotional, physical, and sensory effects. Common symptoms include depression, anxiety, fatigue, apathy, headache, gait disturbance, convulsions, vertigo, paresis, sensory deficits, and speech issues. Recognizing key symptoms such as facial and limb weakness, and speech problems is critical for timely stroke recognition and emergency response. The presence of certain symptoms can also aid in the diagnosis and prognosis of stroke, highlighting the importance of rapid and accurate assessment for effective management.

What are the symptoms of stroke?

Summary

Introduction

Key Insights from Research Papers

Conclusion

Sources and full results

Neuropsychiatric outcomes of stroke

Stroke patients often experience neuropsychiatric symptoms like depression, anxiety, fatigue, and apathy, with no clear link to brain lesion location and a need for further research on causes and management strategies.

Characterization of Incident Stroke Signs and Symptoms: Findings From the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study

Incident stroke symptoms include headaches, gait disturbances, convulsions, and speech deficits, with minor differences observed by race, sex, and stroke subtype.

What is Stroke Symptom Knowledge?

Knowing at least two stroke symptoms - facial weakness, limb weakness, and speech problems - is associated with stroke recognition and immediate ambulance call, improving prehospital time delays and eligibility for rapid treatment.

Emotional symptoms in acute ischemic stroke

Anxiety and depressive symptoms are common in acute stroke patients, with factors such as brain damage and psychological reactions playing a role in these emotional changes.

Which stroke symptoms prompt a 911 call? A population-based study.

The public responds differently to stroke symptoms, with weakness, confusion, speech, and dizziness/coordination/vertigo being the most common, while numbness and visual changes are less likely to prompt a call.

Is this patient having a stroke?

Focusing on 3 neurological findings (acute facial paresis, arm drift, or abnormal speech) may improve diagnostic accuracy and reliability in evaluating patients with possible stroke and choosing appropriate treatments.

Stroke warning signs.

Stroke warning signs include sudden paralysis, weakness, numbness, vision changes, difficulty speaking, and intense headaches.

Clinical Features of Stroke

Stroke is a neurological condition caused by focal infarction or haemorrhage in the brain, spinal cord, or retina, leading to neurological dysfunction and death.

Developments in treating the nonmotor symptoms of stroke

Noninvasive brain stimulation and medications show promise in treating post-stroke mood disorders and epilepsy, with limited evidence for other nonmotor symptoms.

Acute stroke diagnosis.

Acute stroke diagnosis requires a thorough history and physical examination, neuroimaging, and public education on common symptoms to effectively treat the patient.

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