Disabilties With Cerebral Vascular Disease

Cerebral vascular disease (CVD) is the third-leading cause of death in the United States. Eighty percent of all strokes stem from cerebral vascular disease. In 2003, 157,000 people died as a result of cerebrovascular disease in the United States. An estimated 500,000 new strokes occur each year as a result of CVD, and many who survive these strokes suffer permanent physical disability.

The Facts

• Cerebral vascular disease affects the brain by interrupting blood flow through the vessels. The disease is often caused by atherosclerosis. The disease causes damage to the blood vessels, which reduces the blood supply to the brain. This loss of blood flow to the brain, called ischemia, results in permanent brain damage for many individuals. Most episodes caused by this ischemia are referred to as ischemic strokes. According to the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Pharmacy, approximately 50 percent of all stroke survivors have permanent brain damage and 25 percent require chronic care.

Identification

• Cerebral vascular disease leads to disability when an individual suffers blood loss to the brain, which frequently takes the form of an ischemic stroke but can also result from a hemorrhage-induced stroke. Stroke symptoms include dizziness, numbness, slurred speech, confusion, headaches, loss of vision and difficulty walking or balancing. A transient ischemic attack, often called a mini-stroke, produces many of the same symptoms despite being a milder form of stroke.

Features

• When cerebral vascular disease leads to stroke, disabilities associated with it are no different than what any stroke victim might expect. Individuals suffer memory loss, loss of speech, loss of motor skills and paralysis. Because strokes usually only occur on one side of the brain, disabilities often occur to only one side of the body. Permanent disabilities, however, do not always occur. TIAs cause no permanent damage, and some patients recover certain functions through rehabilitation.

Time

• The greatest factor in determining the degree of disability a stroke causes is the amount of time the individual goes without blood flow to the brain. A typical stroke lasts only 2 to 15 minutes, but some strokes last as long as 24 hours. The severity of the stroke is often measured by its length. Each minute that the brain goes without blood flow increases the likelihood of permanent brain damage and disability.

Types

• Ischemic stroke resulting from cerebral vascular disease ranges from mild to severe. Doctors classify a patient's condition depending on how the patient responds to treatment. A stable condition is one in which the disabilities caused by the stroke remain but do not increase. These individuals will not overcome the disabilities caused by their strokes, but they also will suffer no additional disabilities. The second form is an improving condition. These stroke victims regain most or all of their abilities over a period of days or weeks with help from treatment, including physical therapy. A progressing patient condition is one in which the stroke victim can expect continued deterioration and increased disability. In some cases, progressing disability is interrupted by a brief period of stabilization.

Common Disabilities

• Stroke victims often experience paralysis or motor control impairment. This can lead to difficulty performing basic tasks, including walking and eating. Some victims also have difficulty swallowing due to stroke's effect on the muscles of the mouth and throat. This increases the risk of choking and the possibility of aspiration pneumonia, which is caused by foods that enter the lungs after working their way through the trachea. Dementia, memory loss and depression are also common in stroke victims. Vision, hearing and pain perception problems also persist in some stroke patients. They find it difficult to feel pain. Stroke victims also suffer disability in the form of urinary incontinence, which occurs because the brain can no longer sense when the bladder is full. Aphasia, a condition that limits a person's ability to communicate orally or through writing also is a common disability among stroke victims.