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| Clinicians are responsible for assessing individuals who have AF, and determining whether it is most advantageous for the individual to leave the AF untreated, or to the go on medications. The most effective treatments for persons with AF are anticoagulants (i.e. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warfarin warfarin], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabigatran dibigatran], or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antithrombotic antrithrombotic] (i.e. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin aspirin]) therapies <ref>3</ref>. The clinician will decide which treatment plan to use depending on the individuals medical history and age <ref>3</ref>. Typically, individuals with AF who are at a higher risk of having a stroke are put on a warfarin treatment plan, which reduces the likelihood of a stroke by 66%, compared with the likelihood reduction of 20% for aspirin <ref>3</ref>. However, the complications associated with warfarin are greater than aspirin, in that warfarin holds a high propensity for reactions to both food and other medications <ref>3</ref>. | Clinicians are responsible for assessing individuals who have AF, and determining whether it is most advantageous for the individual to leave the AF untreated, or to the go on medications. The most effective treatments for persons with AF are anticoagulants (i.e. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warfarin warfarin], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabigatran dibigatran], or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antithrombotic antrithrombotic] (i.e. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspirin aspirin]) therapies <ref>3</ref>. The clinician will decide which treatment plan to use depending on the individuals medical history and age <ref>3</ref>. Typically, individuals with AF who are at a higher risk of having a stroke are put on a warfarin treatment plan, which reduces the likelihood of a stroke by 66%, compared with the likelihood reduction of 20% for aspirin <ref>3</ref>. However, the complications associated with warfarin are greater than aspirin, in that warfarin holds a high propensity for reactions to both food and other medications <ref>3</ref>. | ||
| - | + | Smoking | |
| + | An estimated 20% of Canadians report to be smokers (Stats Canada) . Smoking more than doubles the risk of having a stroke <ref name="Prevent">. This risk increases proportional to the number of cigarettes smoked daily. The day a smoking person decides to stop smoking, their risk of stroke immediately starts to decrease. Five years from the day the individual stops smoking, their risk of stroke is the same as someone who’s never smoked before <ref name="Prevent">. | ||
| =='''Treatment'''== | =='''Treatment'''== | ||
Revision as of 12:25, 31 October 2011
Contents |
Group 14
- 1. Jessica Kremble
- 2. Jennifer Martin
- 3. Holly Vlasov
- 4. Krystin Piedl
What is it?
> - Types of stroke > - Prevalence > - Causes >
Effects of a Stroke on Survivors
Strokes affect each individual differently in terms of the outcomes and difficulties they have post stroke. The outcomes are affected by how severe the stroke is as well as what type of stroke the individual has.
- Communication
Communication is an area of struggle for individuals who have suffered strokes. Aphasia is a disorder in which the individual has difficulty comprehending speech or understands it but cannot produce what they want to say. Dysarthria is characterized by an individual knowing what they want to say but being unable to produce them, and therefore find other ways of communication such as drawing or writing the words. Communication with other people is often very stressful and time consuming, so much so that it affects social relationships [1]. People who suffer from aphasia have half the social network size post stroke in relation to pre stroke [1]. This difference in social network size may be due to social isolation because of the difficulty communicating [1]
 Aphasia |
 Dysarthria |
- Motor Movement
Paralysis is the loss of motor movement of an area of the body. It can occur post-stroke, and is on the side of the body opposite of where the stroke occurred. Balance and gait is also affected by stroke. Post-stroke, individuals walk slower and have poor balance compared to other elderly individuals [2]. Hypokinetic movement disorders are those which have slower or reduced movements [3]. A hyperkinetic movement disorder occurs as an increase in motor movements [3].
- Quality of Life
Depression affects the quality of life of stroke survivors, especially within the first six-month period post stroke [4]. Every stroke survivor experiences depression two weeks after their stroke [4]. This onset of depression can sometimes lead to death in stroke patients because of the impact it has on the psyche of the individual [4]. Quantitatively, stroke survivors are satisfied with their quality of life [5] . Qualitatively, with the effects of dependency on others, loss of movements, inability to perform usual activities, stroke survivors are dissatisfied with their quality of life [5]. Returning to work post stroke often affects the life of the survivor. Even though many stroke patients are older, some are young and also many are working before their stroke. Work situations may have been stressful and one of the causes of their stroke, so return to work may not be a good idea for stroke survivors because could increase chance of another stroke [6] . Working individuals find it important to work because it allows for stability with money and the home [6]. Stroke survivor's return to work is dependent on recovery, and the barriers caused by the stroke that they deal with [6].
Effects of Stroke on Caregivers
- Relationship with Survivor
Strong relationships are important in the recovery of the stroke survivor; excess stress placed by the caregiver could be detrimental [7]. Loss of a partner as who they used to be is a common result of a stroke [7]. Caregivers are often overprotective and fearful of the survivor having another stroke, which could cause the survivor to feel like they are being treated as a child [7]. Intimacy is a very important factor in a relationship, this is often lost post stroke, due to loss of mobility in the survivor [7]. Familial roles change after stroke, the caregiver must now be the provider, caretaker, and strong individual [7]. This is increasingly difficult if the stroke survivor is the dominant male of the household. Family roles can often change with other members of the family; children and grandchildren for instance may become less important to the carer in relation to the stroke survivor [7]. This can be detrimental to all of the emotional lives of everyone in the family, and everyone affected by the stroke. Burden is a common feeling of caregivers due to the need to spend many hours of their days and weeks caring and aiding the survivors in their recovery and daily activities [8].
- Changes
Work is an important way of supporting a family, caregivers often experience changes in their employment with either now having to work, working more hours or having to cut back due to care taking responsibilities [7]. All of the work changes can affect the caregiver; some often report it helped keep them sane throughout the recovery process [7]. Friends are often put on hold during recovery leading to isolation being felt by the caregiver [7]. Stress can affect the social relationships as well because they feel they are abandoning the survivor and cannot enjoy themselves when they go out [7]. It is not all bad changes; caregivers can often feel more self-worth and see their life in a more positive direction because of the new roles taken on.
Prevention
Atrial fibrillation), occurs from an irregular beating of the heart, that causes blood to collect in one of the heart's chambers. That blood clot can dislodge and lead to a stroke. It is a disorder characterized by a common, persistent, irregular heart rhythm, accounts for 15% of all strokes [9] [10]. Persons with AF are at least five times more likely than persons with normal heart rhythms to have strokes [11]. In persons over age forty, it is estimated that every one out of four persons will have AF [12], and the international population of persons with AF is expected to double, at minimum, due to the ageing populace by year 2050 [13]. Strokes caused by atrial fibrillation are more likely than non atrial fibrillation induced strokes to be fatal [14].
Clinicians are responsible for assessing individuals who have AF, and determining whether it is most advantageous for the individual to leave the AF untreated, or to the go on medications. The most effective treatments for persons with AF are anticoagulants (i.e. warfarin, dibigatran, or antrithrombotic (i.e. aspirin) therapies [15]. The clinician will decide which treatment plan to use depending on the individuals medical history and age [16]. Typically, individuals with AF who are at a higher risk of having a stroke are put on a warfarin treatment plan, which reduces the likelihood of a stroke by 66%, compared with the likelihood reduction of 20% for aspirin [17]. However, the complications associated with warfarin are greater than aspirin, in that warfarin holds a high propensity for reactions to both food and other medications [18].
Smoking An estimated 20% of Canadians report to be smokers (Stats Canada) . Smoking more than doubles the risk of having a stroke [9]
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