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Medical Terms

Stroke - Medical Terminology

Aneurysm - Balloon-like swelling in the wall of a blood vessel, causing weakness of the wall which can lead to sudden rupture.
Angiogram - An image or picture of the blood vessels obtained by the injection of dye.
Anti - coagulant - A drug used to reduce the risk of clot formation in the blood eg Heparin, Warafin.
Aphasia - Inability to speak or understand language.
Apraxia - Inability to perform correct muscular movements leading to uncoordinated or jerky movements.
Arteriosclerosis - Narrowing and hardening of the blood vessels.
Atheroma or Atherosclerosis - Build-up of fatty deposits in a blood vessel which restricts and disrupts the flow of blood through that vessel.
Atrial Fibrillation - (AF) An irregular fast heart beat.

Cartoid Endarterectomy - Opening of the cartoid artery to remove a clot or any fatty deposits which are causing narrowing of the artery.
Cerebal Atrophy supply - Wasting or degeneration of brain cells.
Cerebal Oedema - Swelling of the brain.
Cognitive - Processes of remembering, perceiving, judgement, understanding attitudes and awareness.
CT scan - A type of brain scan to confirm whether a stroke has occurred.
CVA - Cerebrovascular Accident - Another term for a stroke

Dexmethasone - An anti inflammatory steroid used to reduce cerebal oedema following a stroke.
Diplopia - Double vision
Dysarthria - Slurring of the speech and "mouth droop" on one side of the face due to muscle weakness.
Dysphagia - Difficulty in swallowing.
Dysphasia - Difficulty in speaking.

Embolic Stroke - Stroke caused by an embolus.
Embolus - A clot that has formed elsewhere in the body i.e. the heart or cartoid artery.
Emotional Lability - Emotional instability in which the mood of the person swings rapidly from one state to another.
Expressive dysphasia - Difficulty in using the spoken word.

Haemorrhagic Stroke - Stroke caused by bleeding form a blood vessel in the brain.
Hemiparesis - Weakness of muscles on one side of the body.
Hemianopia - Loss of one half of the normal field of vision.
Infarction - The area of tissue i.e. brain that has died due to loss of blood supply.

Multi Infarct Dementia - A type of Dementia caused by mini infarctions in the brain.
Naso - gastric tube (NG Feeding) - Fine tube passed into the nose to the back of the throat and into the stomach for the purpose of feeding when oral feeding is not advisable.
PEG tube - Fine tube inserted into the stomach through a small incision in the abdomen when support feeding is required for a longer term.

Receptive dysphasia - Difficulty in understanding the spoken word.
Rehabilitation - The process of recovering bodily and mental functions with help from nurses and therapists.

TIA - A mini stroke usually lasting less than 30 minutes
Thrombotic Stroke - Stroke caused by a clot forming in an artery supplying blood to the brain.

 

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