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HowToPreventHeartDisease.com |
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What Heart Problems Could Occur After Stroke? Major neurological changes usually happen as a result of a stroke. Some of the problems people may have after a stroke include weakness on one side of the body including arms and legs; problems controlling or coordinating movements (also arms and legs); difficulties swallowing food, drink or their own saliva; difficulty receiving messages from the senses (smell, touch, taste, sight and hearing); personality and behavior changes; problems with thinking, memory and insight; vision loss. But quite often, several kind of heart problems can happen in the patients immediately following a stroke. These can be heart attack (myocardial infarction), heart failure, and cardiac arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation and ventricular fibrillation. Roughly 13 percent of stroke patients aged 60 or older will have a heart attack within 3 days of the stroke. It is also quite common for a heart attack to be quickly followed by a stroke. The reason why acute heart attack and acute stroke occur frequently together is unclear. One explanation is that most stroke cases are caused by atherosclerosis, the same that also lead to heart attack. It is highly possible that some patients who have atherosclerosis may go through periods of time in which the risk of thrombosis (blockage) at the site of any atherosclerosis plaque is particularly high. Since plaques are often found in arteries supplying both the heart and the brain, during such high-risk times strokes and heart attacks may occur nearly simultaneously.
Furthermore, certain risk factors, such as high
blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol, coronary artery disease, and heart
arrhythmias, that can lead to a stroke can also trigger heart problems. Some of
the chemical changes a stroke causes may affect the heart's functioning. For
instance, chemicals in the brain released into the bloodstream after a stroke
may be bad for the heart. A stroke can directly damage parts of the brain that
control the heart. Right hemisphere damage makes serious heart rhythm problems
and death caused by the heart suddenly stopping much more likely.
Significant cardiac arrhythmias are seen during the first few days in 25 percent of patients admitted to the hospital with acute stroke. The arrhythmia most frequently associated with stroke is atrial fibrillation, which accounts for more than half of stroke-related heart rhythm problems. Life-threatening arrhythmias may sometimes ensue, including ventricular fibrillation and cardiac arrest. Bradycardia (slow heart beats - heart beats fewer than 60 beats a minute) can also result after a stroke. Ventricular fibrillation occurs in the heart’s lower two chambers, known as the ventricles. Atrial fibrillation occurs in the heart’s upper two chambers, also known as the atria. In atrial fibrillation, the heart’s rate and rhythm will become irregular. In ventricular fibrillation, the heart will no longer pump blood. When the upper chambers of the heart are pumping ineffectively, the blood is not being systematically ejected from the heart out into the rest of the body. Instead, blood pools in the atria and blood clots may form. If clots move into the bloodstream, they may end up in the coronary arteries causing a heart attack or the brain causing another stroke. When a stroke is accompanied by a heart attack, heart failure may result. Moreover, the stroke itself can directly cause weakening of the heart by producing a dramatic increase in adrenaline levels. These changes can cause significant cardiac ischemia (lack of oxygen in the heart muscle) even in people without coronary artery disease. The heart damage caused tends to be permanent. Stroke could also be associated with transient cardiac stunning, in which a portion of heart muscle suddenly stops working normally. This condition can produce episodes of severe, but temporary, heart failure. A study, which was published October 14, 2011 in Journal ‘Cerebrovascular Diseases’, reported that early serious cardiac adverse events are common after stroke and are independently associated with the presence of atrial fibrillation. Hence, anyone suffering a stroke need to be carefully evaluated and monitored by doctors for at least several days for the possibility of heart attack, heart failure, and cardiac arrhythmias. Meanwhile, it is paramount that doctors should take aggressive steps to reduce the cardiac risk for patients who have had a stroke. Date: September 26, 2019
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