There are two types of strokes.
The first being an Ischemic stroke, which occurs due to an interrupted flow of blood to the brain.
When blood flow is somehow blocked the brain tissue is deprived of oxygen and nutrients so it starts to die after a few minutes.
Prompt action is required in this situation for minimal brain damage.
It is possible to suffer a mini-stroke that is caused by very temporary ischemia in the brain. This however, only increases the risk of a full-blown stroke later on.
The second type of stroke is called a Hemorrhagic stroke, and this occurs when a blood vessel bursts and floods the brain with blood.
The blood puts pressure on brain matter thus causing it to tire and start to die. This is caused by a high blood pressure in weak vessel walls.
Strokes are one of the leading causes of death in people over 60 years of age.
The risk of death is lower in younger people but still quite significant.
However, there are fewer stroke deaths now than before, this is due to the advancement in medicine and treatment methods. More often than not, a patient can make a full recovery if action is promptly taken. However, it is still a leading cause of disability.
It is estimated that ischemic strokes make up about 87% of cases, while hemorrhagic strokes make up the remaining 13%. In most cases, ischemic strokes are not painful. This is the opposite of the excruciating pain that is experienced in the occasion of a brain bleed.
Dead Serious Matter
One in six people will suffer a stroke of some sort in their lifetime. 90% of those stroke events will be caused by an easily avoidable or manageable risk. For example, blood pressure is the leading risk factor for stroke but blood pressure is also manageable.
A person who has suffered a stroke will usually exhibit slurred speech, confusion, and perhaps a bit paralysis on one side. If the right side of the brain is affected, the left side of the patient’s body will experience mobility challenges and vice versa. If the left side of the brain has been affected, there most likely will be speech and language impediments.
Take Care of Yourself
Treatment and prevention is done by managing different risk factors. For example, patients may need to manage blood pressure, maintain a healthy cholesterol levels, abstain from tobacco use, or even manage diabetes as directed by their physician.
Maintaining a healthy body mass index is key, simply just keep fit.
Anti-platelets and anti-coagulants may also be used to combat the clots that may have formed.
Clots may be thrombotic or embolic.
It will take a long time to recover from a stroke if the body is left to heal on its own. Over time, your body will be able to generate fresh neurons to replace the infarct that forms on the aftermath of the stroke.
Cannabinoid Halo
Extensive research has been done to investigate the efficacy of CBD after stroke events and to prevent extensive brain damage.
A study conducted on piglets in 2008 showed the efficacy of CBD if administered shortly after an ischemic event. Only a portion of the subjects were administered with CBD.
The group that was administered CBD recovered almost 50% of baseline electrical activity in the brain. Only half of the portion seized.
The other portion only recovered 20% of their brain activity and all of them seized.
By these results, CBD can help regain up to 50% of brain activity if administered promptly.
It can also cut down the prevalence of seizures by half.
CBD achieves therapeutic success with stroke patients due to three mechanisms. Its antioxidant, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory properties come into play.
CBD for Neuroprotection
After ischemia, the brain only carries on for a few minutes before the cells start to die. When this happens a mass of dead brain cells forms and is called infarct.
Even when circulation is regained in the brain, the infarct remains. The infarct may or may not expand depending on therapeutic measures taken.
In 2015, researchers found that promptness of CBD administration after the ischemic event matters a whole lot.
At this point CBD would have the advantage. It would effectively reduce the infarct volume and improve functional outcome. It was found that this is achieved through inhibition of a process that causes brain cell death.
Another study used oxygen-glucose-deprivation/reperfusion model to investigate the efficacy of CBD.
It was found that CBD significantly reduced cytotoxicity.
The cannabinoid also effectively mitigated the energy crisis and disturbance of cell metabolism.
This study was eventually published in the Redox Biology, where it showed that CBD stimulated glucose metabolism through pentose-phosphate pathway which then helped maintain balance during ischemia.
This is great news for people who have suffered a Transient Ischemic Attack, as it ensures that if and when the full blown stroke strikes, there will be a better chance of a full and quick recovery.
It also reduces the risk of said stroke significantly. In the case of a TIA patient, it would be a viable preventative measure.
CBD as an Antioxidant
As we all know, oxygen is a paramount ingredient for the body to perform its bodily functions.
However, oxidative stress may occur when an imbalance develops between reactive oxygen species and antioxidant defense mechanisms. This brings about an overflow of superoxides in the cerebral blood vessels.
This basically means that the presence of free radicals will cause stress on the brain tissue after ischemia.
This stress will bring about hypertrophy and worsen the developing post-ischemic infarct. This is not to say the free radicals are all bad, lower levels can actually help regulate normal cerebral tone and structure.
The National Institutes of Health has recognized the significance of CBD as an antioxidant.
Studies from 1998 found that CBD was actually a stronger antioxidant than vitamin C and E. The cannabinoid does not seek to completely extinguish the free radicals, it only inhibits action such that the oxidative stress is not exacerbating an already critical situation. It seeks to maintain cerebral homeostasis which helps the body’s own antioxidant efforts that might be insufficient.
CBD as an Anti-inflammatory
Inflammation is an immune reaction to distress anywhere in the body, it’s one of the many processes the body has that helps itself heal.
The immune response carries white blood cells from the bone marrow called monocytes.
These then develop into macrophages, which clear out dead tissue and help heal the remaining parts in addition to taking part in neurogenesis.
CBD is only required in this respect to mitigate the bad inflammation, the kind that causes the brain to swell to dangerous levels.
CBD helps to bring down the swelling and amount of inflammation to a more palatable level.
It does this through interaction with the CB2 receptor, this receptor modulates the immune system and since inflammation is an immune response, it makes for the perfect match.
CBD for Hemorrhagic Stroke
This kind of stroke is not subtle, it does not sneak in.
Hemorrhagic strokes are painful and are an urgent medical emergency, which needs to be treated by surgery. Since most cases of this stroke are caused by high blood pressure, it imperative to keep your levels down.
CBD is a vasorelaxant, this means that it relaxes the vessels so that the blood can flow at a sensible rate.
It helps to keep blood pressure levels in check. In the case of a hemorrhagic stroke, after the vessel has broken CBD would help to slow down pressure so that the flooding into the cerebral field can be managed.
CBD as Preventative Measure
As aforementioned, a significant number of stroke incidences are caused by easily manageable risk factors.
Among these risks, being blood pressure is the number one. For this reason, CBD should not only be used when the stroke finally occurs.
Why wait until the storm strikes to build a bunker? Use CBD to help drop the weight. Use CBD to maintain a healthy cholesterol level. Use CBD to maintain homeostasis in the body. Have everything working as it should.
If by some twisted fate a stroke happens anyway, you are assured that the damage will not be as bad as it would have been because your brain is already armed with a neuroprotectant.
