Some time around 400 B.C., Hippocrates, often called the father of western medicine, first recognized stroke, which at that time was called apoplexy.
Because doctors knew so little about the brain, for centuries the cause of the condition remained a medical mystery. Not until 1600 did doctors understand that strokes were “brain attacks” associated with blockages and bleeding in the brain.
A stroke occurs when there is an interruption or blockage of blood supply to the brain tissue. Blood is vital to brain cell health, as it carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain, so without oxygen and nutrients, the brain cells will begin to die.
Stroke can occur either because:
1) A blood vessel in the brain is blocked by a clot or plaque (ischemic stroke)
2) A blood vessel in the brain ruptures (hemorrhagic stroke)
Today, stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and the leading cause of adult disability in the United States. Each year, approximately 800,000 people suffer a stroke, with 2/3 of survivors left with some type of disability. Stroke can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of race, sex or age.