Stroke Case Study

Chapter 1 Introduction

Title:

EFFECT OF INTENSIVE STRENGTH TRAINING EXERCISES ON BALANCE AND MOBILITY IN POST STROKE HEMIPLEGICS – A PROBE STUDY.

1. Introduction

Stroke is a leading neurological disorder and causes long-term disability worldwide. The definition of stroke was recently updated by 2009 task committee endorsed by American heart and stroke associations as follows.

Stroke refers to a CNS infarction. “A CNS infarction is brain, spinal cord, or retinal cell death attributable to ischemia, based on (a) Pathological imaging, or other objective evidence of cerebral, spinal cord or retinal focal ischemic injury in a defined vascular distribution;

The CVA can be a hemorrhage or thrombus and the severity of the lesion determines the loss of function. In extensive disease, neighboring neurons may also be affected. Following a stroke, the oxygen supply to brain cells is blocked and cells start to die within minutes. This will be reflected by symptoms like sudden weakness, paralysis or numbness of the face, arms, or legs, difficulty in communication, loss of consciousness etc. The loss of function in stroke is dependent on the number of neurons involved and how long the blood flow to the brain has been interrupted. Early diagnosis, underlying cause and time taken for the commencement of treatment play the main role in determining whether the deficit is stable, progressive, or completely

Ischemic stroke is more common type of stroke, occurs around 80% of all strokes (Feigin et al., 2003), of which 60% are involved with large-artery ischemia. Following ischemia there is a local reduction in oxygen supply or nutrients, results in failure of energy production such as adenine triphosphate (ATP). This harmfully influences the tissue cell survival, and leads to cellular damage and death. The amount of cellular injury depends upon extend of illness, severity, and area involved (Deb P,