What Is A Stroke?

A stroke is a result of blocked blood flow to various parts of the brain. When this happens, essential nutrients and oxygen can’t make it to the delicate cells of the brain, which potentially results in severe damage.

If this happens for just a few minutes, the cells in the brain start to die and can cause long-term problems. This condition is a medical emergency and often fatal.

If blood flow is restored fast enough, you can avoid lasting damage.

However, it can take several months for a patient to recover from a stroke.

There Are 2 Types of Strokes:

1. Ischemic Stroke

An ischemic stroke is the most common form of a stroke and is the most survivable.

An ischemic stroke occurs when blood flow is cut off from regions in the brain. It can happen if a blood or cholesterol clot gets lodged in the cerebral arteries feeding the brain. Once the artery is blocked, blood cannot flow to the region it supplies.

Within about two or three minutes, the neurons suffocate and die. This cell death is permanent; neurons do not grow back.

The side effects may be different depending on which region of the brain is affected.

As an example, if regions of the brain associated with speech are affected, you may lose your ability to communicate.

Causes of Ischemic Stroke:

• Being overweight
• Heavy drinking
• Physical inactivity
• Drug use
• Atrial fibrillation
• Smoking
• Obstructive sleep apnea
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Cardiovascular disease

2. Hemorrhagic Stroke

Hemorrhagic strokes are much more serious.

This type of stroke involves a burst blood vessel in the brain. These strokes are almost always fatal.

As blood leaks out from the burst artery, it isn’t able to reach the cells it feeds, causing them to die.

Causes of a Hemorrhagic Stroke:

• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• Blood-thinner medications
• Aneurysms (weak spots in arterial walls)

Signs & Symptoms Of A Stroke

There are a few key symptoms and side effects of a stroke that are important to keep in mind.

Symptoms During The Stroke:

While a stroke is happening, some key indicators tend to appear:

• Difficulty speaking
• Difficulty understanding people
• Weakness, usually on one side of the body
• Severe headaches
• Vision disturbances
• Paralysis in the face, arms, or legs
• Difficulty walking

Symptoms After The Stroke:

There may be some lasting side effects after the stroke.

Many people report the following side effects after a stroke:

• Weakness on one side of the body
• Nerve pain
• Difficulty swallowing
• Difficulty speaking
• Numbness or tingling sensations in the limbs
• Memory loss
• Changes in behavior and self-care ability
• Depression

Care and Treatment After The Stroke:

Treatment depends on the severity and cause of the stroke. The chances for another stroke increase significantly, so reducing this risk is a necessary part of post-care.

• Physical, occupational, and speech therapy
• Healthy lifestyle changes
• Medications to control underlying causes of strokes such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes
• Surgery

What Are The Best Products For Strokes?

CBD offers a few excellent benefits that may reduce side effects after a stroke.

It’s also useful for reducing the chances of having another stroke in the future and protects against a lot of the damage that occurs during a stroke event. However, it’s important to talk to your doctor first, since CBD can interact with some medications.

The best CBD oils for treating stroke are products with a high CBD concentration, small amounts of THC, and a full-spectrum of terpenes and other phytochemicals.

CBD isolates should be avoided in people who have recently suffered from a stroke because they won’t be nearly as effective as full-spectrum options.

We recommend using full-spectrum high-quality hemp oil.

These products are made using high-quality ingredients free from pesticides, and contaminants. Unnecessary chemical compounds such as solvents or pesticides may aggravate stroke symptoms and are therefore best to avoid.

Measuring Neurological Damage After A Stroke

There are two markers scientists use to determine neuron health:

1. Calcium ion handling
2. Metabolic activity

These two metrics are reliable measures for the health of the nervous system.

The first one, calcium ion handling, refers to how well the neurons can move calcium atoms in and out of the neuron. This function allows neurons to pass electrical signals down from one end of the nerve to the other.

When calcium ions aren’t functioning as well as they should, the nerves are unable to send signals to other parts of the brain as easily. This is a red flag indicating the neurons are starting to degrade.

This is a key issue with people after surviving a stroke [5].

CBD offers direct benefits to calcium handling in neurons and controls the rate of cell death (apoptosis) by restoring damaged neurons to push them back to a better state of health [4].

The second measurement of neuron health, metabolic activity, is also a key issue that may develop following a stroke. After brain scans of people following a stroke, it’s common to see areas of the brain with low or completely absent metabolic activity [6].

It’s the absence of metabolic activity that causes many side effects of the stroke, such as weakness, fatigue, confusion, or loss of bladder/bowel control.

Using CBD for Strokes

Although more research is needed to better understand precisely how CBD oil benefits stroke victims, there’s a lot of evidence to support its potential as a preventative and post-event treatment.

Most of the studies quoted in this article suggest using about 400 – 600 mg of CBD equivalent each day.

This is best done with a full-spectrum CBD oil to get the advantages of the other cannabinoids and terpenes.

It’s also important to mention that in order to get the most out of your CBD oil, you need to take it regularly for long periods. Most people who take CBD oil after a stroke take it every day without fail.

The benefits it’s going to provide are diverse. Some are felt immediately; others require a few weeks of regular treatment to start to appear.

It’s also recommended that you quit smoking, take measures to lower your stress, and add gentle exercise into your daily routine to further improve your odds of recovering or avoiding future strokes.

References Cited In This Article

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