Brain Haemorrhage

Introduction of Brain Haemorrhage

Brain haemorrhage is a type of stroke wherein damage induced to the artery

results in localized bleeding in the brain, and destroys the tissues and cells in the
vicinity. When the rupture caused to the wall of the blood vessels results in blood
spill, the blood enters the area wherein vital tissues and cells of brain are located
and kills them. It is a severe condition, wherein the person needs
immediate medication/treatment- if the person is not subjected to proper
treatment in time, it can result in further complications like loss of brain function
and cause coma or death.

What are the causes of Brain Haemorrhage

Right from high blood pressure to brain tumour - any condition which causes the
blood vessels to weaken can make you vulnerable to brain haemorrhage. In fact, 80
percent of the patients are known to have a history of high blood pressure. Other
common conditions which contribute to weakening of blood vessels includehead
trauma(common in people under 50), aneurysm (which results in swelling of
blood vessel walls thus making them vulnerable to bursting), blood vessel
abnormalities (like amyloid angiopathy in aged people), bleeding disorders such as
haemophiliaandanaemia, formation of some substances in the blood vessels
which are carried along with blood to the brain, brain functional malformation, etc.
In fact, you are at a high risk of suffering frombrain haemorrhage, if:
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are constantly under pressure/stress in your personal or professional life.

have a family history of brain haemorrhage.
have weak blood vessels due to some underlying condition.
have a mutation in cystatin C gene.
suffer from chronichigh blood pressure.
drink or smoke (or resort to substance abuse) very often.

Symptom of Brain Haemorrhage

Even though brain haemorrhage occurs in a flash without any warning in most of
the cases, some symptoms are considered to be the warning bells for impending
disaster. You should look out for thesehaemorrhage symptomsto figure out if
you are vulnerable to it. A sudden and very intense headache, vomiting/nausea are
most common symptoms. If you experience that your body parts are not
responding to your will, i.e., if you feel paralyzed or in other words if you feel
sudden numbness in body organs (this may be a momentary condition), then you
shouldconsult your neurologistfor further diagnosis. In case of pinprick
haemorrhages in the brain, the leakage of blood starts very slowly and very small
quantity of blood spills out of the vessel in the sensitive area of the brain. In such
cases, the patient does not get a severestroke, but he slowly starts losing his
consciousness.

Diagnosis of Brain Haemorrhage

There are series of tests that are used to diagnose a condition which is likely to
lead to a haemorrhage. A CT (Computerized Tomography) scan or MRI (
Magnetic Resonance Imaging) scan can help find out where the
haemorrhage has occurred. Lumbar puncture - i.e. surgical removal of fluid from
the subarachnoid space of the lumbar region of the spinal cord for diagnostic
purpose,angiography- imaging done by injecting a radio-opaque contrast
agent into the blood vessel, etc., are other tests that are used in thediagnosis
of brain haemorrhage.

Treatment of Brain Haemorrhage

The treatment depends on its location and severity, so does the success of any surgery.
Diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology and microsurgical techniques are a few
treatment options available for haemorrhage. The doctor will select the best option
depending on the type of haemorrhage. In most cases, surgery is employed in order to
remove the spilled blood, and is followed by a stitch to the artery to stop the blood
leakage. Treating it by surgery has its own pros and cons. While the patient can
successfully come out of the deadly situation, in some cases he may end up losing his
life. At times, the patient may even have to sacrifice the functionality of the affected
organ as a consequence of a haemorrhage stroke.
As brain haemorrhage causes severe stroke in patients, recovery of the patient carries
many possibilities - some patients resume their normal life after treatment (which can
be a long-term or short-term treatment depending upon therapy used), while some end
up losing the functionality of the organ which was affected by the stroke. It is very
difficult to predict how much time recovery from haemorrhage will take as it is bound to
differ from case to case.
Though the fact that it can be fatal is quite alarming, the better part is that it can be
prevented by identifying risk factors and working on them. Chronic blood pressure, for
instance, is the biggest culprit when it comes to haemorrhage causes. It means
treatment of hypertension can help you reduce the risk ofsuffering from brain
haemorrhage. Same rule applies to other risk factors - such as head trauma, which
can be prevented by taking necessary precautions like wearing helmet while riding a