Page 159 - Health, Population and Environment Education 10

2. High blood pressure
3. Stress and hypertension
4. Coronary heart disease

5. Rheumatic heart disease
6. Obesity
7. Smoking tobacco and products of tobacco

8. Drinking alcohol
9. Prolonged consumption of fatty and oily foods

b. Brain Stroke
Brain stroke can be defined as the sudden death of brain cells due to poor supply of blood.
A person suffers from brain stroke when continuous flow of blood is interrupted to the
entire brain or its part. It occurs due to rupture or blockage of cerebral arteries that supply
pure blood to the brain. Generally, brain stroke occurs only one side of the brain. Brain
stroke may cause loss of memory, paralysis, speech impairment, etc. Brain stroke may
result in coma or death of the victim.

Causes of Brain Stroke
Various risk factors are responsible for brain stroke. Among them, the major causes of
brain stroke are given below:
i. When the age of a person increases, the risk of brain stroke also increases.
ii. Patients of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart diseases have increased risk of
brain stroke.
iii. Risk of brain stroke increases with high RBC count, obesity and high blood cholesterol.

iv. Persons with family history of brain stroke are at risk of brains stroke.
v. Risk of brain stroke increases with smoking, drinking alcohol, use of oral contraceptive
along with smoking, lack of physical exercise, consumption of intravenous drugs, etc.

Major Symptoms of Brain Stroke
The major symptoms of brain stroke are as follows:
i. Paralysis occurs in facial region or any part of the body.

ii. Weakness of limbs
iii. Paralysis of legs or arms
iv. Difficulty in speaking or no speech
v. Headache
vi. Loss of body balance

GREEN Health, Population and Environment Education Book-10 159