What is the science behind a stroke and how exactly is your brain affected?
In: Biology
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Okay, so blood gets pumped by your heart, and it goes all over your body, giving the oxygen the cells in your body need to work. Arteries are the blood vessels, like little tubes, that bring blood from your heart to the rest of your body, and veins are the blood vessels that bring the blood back to your heart, where new oxygen from your lungs will get added to it.
A stroke is when a blood vessel in your brain gets clogged or damaged. When that happens, part of your brain stops getting the oxygen it needs to work. Your brain cells start dying. If the clogged blood vessel can’t be fixed soon, so that those cells that get oxygen again, it may result in permanent brain damage or death.
The clogs can be caused by fat in your blood stream building up, creating layers that coat the inside of your arteries and veins. If a tiny chunk of that fat breaks off, it can clog the arteries or veins.
This is roughly the same way a heart attack works, except that the clog is in the heart rather than the brain.
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