A stroke is a condition in which the supply of blood to a part of the brain is disturbed or interrupted. This leads to an insufficient flow blood to the brain. It is one of the most leading causes of death in the world. Body tissues and cells begin to die when they don’t receive a good supply of oxygen, however, the duration in tissues differ. As an illustration, brain cells begin to die off in less than minutes of no oxygen supply. This is what happens in stroke, the brain cells that don’t receive sufficient oxygen begins to die off. There are two main types of stroke. They are ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. The signs and symptoms of stroke may impairment in movement or a paralysis of a side of the body. In addition, people that have a stroke may have problems with cognition, and also find it difficult understanding people. Most symptoms of stroke are irreversible. Stem cell therapy is one of the effective treatments od stroke. Stem cells are capable of regeneration and repair. In addition, signaling cells, also known as exosomes also play a role in the management of this medical condition.
There are two types of stroke, and these are
- Ischemic stroke: The occurs when the brain or some parts of the brain does not get enough oxygen it needs to function. Most times, this could be as a result of substances blocking the vessels. These substances could be fat plaques, blood clots, atheromatous substances, clumps of bacteria or their remnants, thrombus, and embolus etc. Naturally, ischemia occurs when a tissue does not get sufficient oxygen and nutrients to function. The same applies to the brain, except that the brain cells start dying, just in about less than five hours. The severity of the stroke depends on how long the brain has been without an oxygen supply. Stroke affects the cognition, movement, speech, and memories of individuals affected. In severe cases, it can lead to the paralysis of a section of the body.
- Hemorrhagic stroke: This occurs when there is bleeding in the arteries of the brain. This can be due to rupture of an aneurysm. Berry aneurysm is the most common one in the brain, and it occurs in the anterior communicating arteries. An aneurysm can be caused by different things, but it’s common in some genetic diseases such as Marfan syndrome. The rupture of any vessel in the brain lead to fluid accumulation, and subsequently, the compression of important parts of the brain and other blood vessels. This loss of blood and associated compression on the brain and other vessels can lead to stroke and death if not controlled promptly.
Causes of Stroke
- Thrombus: A thrombus is a blood clot, that forms around fat cells in the vessels. They are capable of gradually blocking the lumen of the arteries. Also, thrombus can break off, and travel to block any another vessel. They are referred to as emboli when this happens. The kind of stroke that happens when a thrombus occludes a vessel, then obstruct the flow of blood to the brain is known as thrombotic stroke. Thrombosis can be classified according to the size of the vessels.
- Large vessel thrombosis: This is when blood clots are formed in the big arteries of the brain. These arteries include the internal and common carotid arteries, anterior and posterior cerebral arteries, the communicating arteries of the brain and also the vertebral artery. Inflammation is one of the diseases that trigger the formation of clots in the vessels. Some of them include Takayasu arteritis and fibromuscular dysplasia.
- Small vessel thrombosis: This kind of thrombosis occurs in the small arteries of the brain. They involve the smaller arteries of the brain. Example of vessels affected is the basilar artery, middle cerebral artery and the branches of the circle of Willis. Small vessel thrombosis is formed due to the development of hyaline materials within the vessels, and also the formation of atheromatous plaques.
- Embolic stroke: An embolus is basically a thrombus that broke away from a place and travels to another location of the body, where it fixes itself up, and obstruct the flow of blood, especially to the brain. In addition, an embolus can also be other materials, such as fat material, or aggregation of bacteria cells. The symptoms of embolus are serious initially but reduce after a while. This can be attributed to the migratory nature of embolus. However, the root cause of the embolus must be tackled, so there won’t be a repetition of the condition.
- Inadequate supply of oxygen to the cerebrum: This is also known as cerebral hypoperfusion, and it basically means the insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain. This could affect just a section of the brain, but it could also be the entire brain. The most common causes of brain hypoperfusion are a cardiac failure, pulmonary embolism, and blood loss.
- Thrombus in the veins: Venous thrombosis happens when the pressure in the veins exceed the pressure that is produced by the arteries. This leads to the formation of thrombus in the veins and can induce a stroke.
- Intracerebral hemorrhage: This occurs most times due to severe high blood pressure. Other causes of intracerebral hemorrhage are amyloidosis and the consumption of illicit drugs such as cocaine and Percocet.
- Other causes: Another cause of stroke is the involuntary spasm of the vessels. This occurs when people consume drugs such as cocaine.
How Is Stroke Treated Currently?
As said earlier, the prognosis of stroke is largely dependent on how fast the affected gets help. The faster the blood flow is restored, the better the for the patient. Patients that get to the hospital in less than four hours can be given drugs that are capable of dissolving the clots and restoring the blood flow. As an illustration, tissue plasminogen activator is an example of a drug that can break down blood clots. Examples of tissue plasminogen activator are alteplase and streptokinase. After the blood flow has been restored, therapists would now focus on revitalizing the brain function that might have been affected
Stroke Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cells are cells capable of regeneration and repair. These properties are being utilized in the management of stroke, and its accompanying symptoms. Stem cells are extracted from the patient’s own tissues, such as adipose tissue or bone marrow. They are then injected into the body. The stem cells subsequently move towards the damaged or injured parts of the brain and carry out repairs. In cases where the cells cannot be repaired, the stem cells proliferate and replace the dead cells. Stem cell therapy also quickens the rate of recovery. This procedure is painless and safe, with no side effects
References
En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Stroke. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroke [Accessed 25 Dec. 2017].
Fisher, M. (2009). Stroke/International Stroke Conference Collaboration. Stroke, 40(6), pp.1947-1947.
Liu, J. (2013). Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural stem cells: new hope for stroke?. Stem Cell Research & Therapy, 4(5), p.115.
Péron, S. and Berninger, B. (2015). Imported Stem Cells Strike against Stroke. Cell Stem Cell, 17(5), pp.501-502.
Stem cell cure for stroke. (2013). Nature India.
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