What is cerebrovascular disease?
The brain is the neural center of the human body. All physiological activities of the body, such as organ activity, limb movement, sensation production, body coordination, speaking, reading, thinking, and so on, are controlled and commanded by the brain. When blood containing clots flows into the brain, causing blockage of brain blood vessels; when cerebral arteriosclerosis makes cerebral arterial vessels narrow; or when brain vessels rupture, causing hemorrhage inside or around the brain, brain cells do not receive oxygen supply from the blood, resulting in damage or death, the neural center that commands various physiological activities of the body has functional disorders, and various symptoms occur.
This disease is called cerebrovascular disease. There are many names for cerebrovascular diseases, such as stroke and cerebral vascular accidents. It mostly occurs in middle-aged and elderly people over 40, characterized by sudden onset, rapid changes, slow recovery, and high disability rate.
Cerebrovascular diseases can be divided into two types according to different causes: one is ischemic cerebrovascular disease, which occurs when the cerebral arteries become narrow due to cerebral arteriosclerosis, reducing or completely cutting off blood flow, resulting in reduced or stopped blood supply to the brain, causing damage to brain tissue and a series of symptoms.
The other type is hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease, which is caused by long-term hypertension or congenital cerebral vascular malformations. Due to rupture of brain vessels, blood leaks out, forming blood clots that compress brain tissue, causing patients to exhibit various symptoms. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cerebrovascular disease, which includes strokes, is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide.