Patient education: Hemorrhagic stroke (The Basics)

What is a hemorrhagic stroke? — Stroke is the term doctors use when a part of the brain is damaged because of a problem with blood flow. The word "hemorrhage" means bleeding. In a hemorrhagic stroke, a blood vessel in or on the brain starts bleeding.

How can you tell if someone is having a stroke? — To tell if someone is having a stroke, just think of the word "FAST" (figure 1). Each letter in the word stands for one of the things to watch for:

●Face – Does the person's face look uneven or droop to 1 side?

●Arm – Does the person have weakness or numbness in 1 or both arms? Does 1 arm drift down if the person tries to hold both arms out?

●Speech – Is the person having trouble speaking? Does their speech sound strange?

●Time – If you see any of these signs, call for an ambulance (in the US and Canada, dial 9-1-1). You need to act FAST and get to a hospital. The sooner treatment begins, the better the chances of recovery.

Some experts suggest thinking of the term "BE-FAST" instead. This adds 2 more symptoms to the list above:

●Balance – Is the person having trouble standing or walking?

●Eyes – Is the person having trouble with their vision?

Sometimes, people get a severe headache that starts all of a sudden when they have a hemorrhagic stroke.

How are hemorrhagic strokes treated? — In the hospital, doctors will do a CT scan or MRI. These are imaging tests that create pictures of the brain. They can show if there is bleeding in or around the brain.

If the scan shows a hemorrhagic stroke, your doctor might:

●Give you medicines and other treatments to reduce the brain damage caused by the bleeding

●Give you medicines to lower your blood pressure, if your blood pressure is too high

●Stop any medicines you take that thin the blood or prevent it from clotting. If you take blood-thinning medicines, they might give you treatments to help your blood clot so that you stop bleeding.

●Do tests to figure out the cause of the bleeding

●Watch the pressure in your brain to make sure that it doesn't get too high

Some people are also treated with surgery, depending on their symptoms and other factors. Doctors can do surgery to:

●Remove a piece of the skull to relieve pressure on the brain and prevent more brain damage

●Remove a collection of blood, if it is pressing down on the brain or causing the brain to swell

●Stop the bleeding in the brain and fix the blood vessel that was bleeding

Can hemorrhagic strokes be prevented? — Sometimes. You can lower your chance of having a hemorrhagic stroke by:

●Getting treated for high blood pressure – This is very important, because untreated high blood pressure is a common cause of hemorrhagic strokes. Treatment can involve lifestyle changes, diet changes, and medicines.

●Not smoking

●Not using illegal drugs

If an abnormal blood vessel was the cause of the stroke, surgery can sometimes be done to fix it and prevent it from bleeding again.

What happens after a stroke? — Some people recover from a stroke without any long-term problems or with only minor problems. But many people have serious problems after a stroke. For example, they might be unable to speak or feed themselves, or they might be unable to move 1 side of their body. Specialists can help with these things. For example, a person might work with an occupational therapist, physical therapist, speech therapist, or other specialist.

After a stroke, people are also more likely to get other medical problems. These can include blood clots in the legs, heart problems, bed sores, or lung infections. Your doctor or nurse will try to prevent these problems from happening and will treat them if they do happen.

More on this topic

Patient education: Stroke (The Basics)
Patient education: High blood pressure in adults (The Basics)
Patient education: Brain aneurysm (The Basics)
Patient education: Choosing a medicine for blood clots (The Basics)
Patient education: Taking medicines for blood clots (The Basics)
Patient education: Recovery after stroke (The Basics)
Patient education: What are clinical trials? (The Basics)

Patient education: Stroke symptoms and diagnosis (Beyond the Basics)
Patient education: Hemorrhagic stroke treatment (Beyond the Basics)