About Advice > Stroke

What is a stroke?

A stroke is sometimes called a "brain attack." A stroke can injure the brain like a heart attack can injure the heart. Stroke is the result of cerebrovascular disease - disease of the blood vessels in the brain.

There are two types of stroke:

• Ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke. This type of stroke happens when there is a sudden lack of blood flow to some part of the brain, usually due to a blood clot blocking an artery or blood vessel. Often the artery is already clogged with fatty deposits (atherosclerosis).
  
  
• Hemorrhagic stroke. Bleeding in the brain from a broken or leaking blood vessel causes this type of stroke. A hemorrhagic stroke may be due to an aneurysm—a thin or weak spot in an artery that balloons out and can burst.

Either type of stroke can cause brain cells to die. This brain damage may cause a person to lose control of certain functions, such as speech, movement, and memory. Like a heart attack, a stroke is an emergency and should be treated as quickly as possible.

cerebrovascular disease — disease of the blood vessels in the brain.
artherosclerosis — disease when fatty deposits clog the walls of the arteries.