What Is a Stroke? 
Neurological DisordersStroke

What Is a Stroke?

What Is a Stroke?
Everyday Health
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Updated on March 11, 2026
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A stroke occurs when the flow of blood to the brain is blocked. It is a medical emergency because blood carries oxygen, and brain cells can die within minutes without it.

Every year more than 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke. About 610,000 of these are first-time strokes. In the States, someone has a stroke every 40 seconds, and someone dies of a stroke every four minutes, on average.

While strokes can occur at any age, your risk increases as you get older. Not every stroke can be prevented, but there are many steps you can take to reduce your risk.

It’s important to recognize the signs of a stroke and to call 911 for emergency medical attention if you think someone is having one. Getting treatment quickly may prevent death or disability.

Types of Stroke

There are two main types of stroke:

  • Ischemic strokes, which are caused by a blood clot that blocks blood flow to a part of the brain

  • Hemorrhagic strokes, which occur when a weakened blood vessel in the brain ruptures and bleeds into surrounding brain tissue

Ischemic strokes account for about 87 percent of all strokes, while hemorrhagic strokes make up 13 percent of cases.

Signs and Symptoms of a Stroke

Knowing the signs and symptoms of a stroke can help save lives. The type and severity of stroke symptoms depend on the area of the brain that is affected. Signs and symptoms of a stroke can include:

  • Sudden numbness, weakness, or inability to move the face, arm, or leg (especially on one side of the body)
  • Confusion
  • Trouble speaking or understanding speech
  • Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
  • Dizziness, trouble walking, or loss of balance or coordination
  • Sudden severe headache
The acronym FAST can help you remember the signs and symptoms of stroke.

  1. Face Drooping Ask the person to smile. Is the smile uneven?
  2. Arm Weakness Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one drift downward?
  3. Speech Difficulty Is speech slurred or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, such as “The sky is blue.” Is the sentence repeated correctly?
  4. Time to Call 911 If someone shows any of these symptoms — even if the symptoms go away — call 911. Check the time so you can tell responders when the symptoms first started.
Signs of stroke can vary between women and men. While both sexes can experience the symptoms above, women are more likely to report the following:

People who experience a stroke have the best chance of survival and may have less disability if someone around them recognizes the signs and acts quickly by calling 911.

Illustrative graphic titled How Stroke Affects the Body shows confusion, face drooping, trouble speaking, loss of coordination, weakness, paralysis, blurred vision and headache. Everyday Health logo at bottom left
Symptoms of a stroke come on suddenly. These are the most common.Everyday Health

Causes and Risk Factors of a Stroke

Ischemic strokes occur when a blood clot blocks blood flow to a part of the brain. There are two ways this can happen:

  1. A clot can form in a blood vessel of the neck or brain that has been narrowed by a buildup of plaque. Plaque is a combination of fat, cholesterol, and other substances that accumulate in the inner lining of the artery walls. Plaque buildup is known as atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
  2. A clot can arise from the heart or break off from a blood vessel elsewhere in the body and travel to the brain, where it becomes stuck in one of the brain’s tiny blood vessels. This is called an embolism.
A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a weakened blood vessel in the brain ruptures, causing bleeding into the surrounding brain tissue. This puts too much pressure on blood cells in the surrounding tissue, cutting off their blood supply and causing damage.

An aneurysm — a weak spot in a blood vessel wall that balloons outward — can lead to a hemorrhagic stroke, as can a tangle of malformed blood vessels called an arteriovenous malformation (AVM).

Several factors may increase your risk of having a stroke. General stroke risk factors include:

There are also specific risk factors for a hemorrhagic stroke:

  • Uncontrolled high blood pressure
  • Excessive use of anticoagulant drugs (blood thinners)
  • Trauma (such as an accident or fall)
  • Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (protein deposits in blood vessel walls)
  • Ischemic stroke (having had one can lead to hemorrhagic stroke)

How Is a Stroke Diagnosed?

Your emergency medical team will diagnose a stroke based on several factors, including your symptoms, medical history, a physical exam, and diagnostic tests. The following brain and heart tests may be used to help diagnose a stroke.

  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) A brain MRI uses magnets and radio waves to create images of your brain.
  • Carotid Ultrasound or Carotid Angiography These show the insides of the arteries that supply blood to the brain.
  • Echocardiogram This test uses sound waves to create images of your heart and may detect the source of blood clots that have traveled from your heart to your brain.
A computerized tomography scan or MRI of the brain may be used to identify whether your stroke is ischemic (caused by clotting) or hemorrhagic (caused by bleeding), which is essential to treating your stroke. Blood tests may also be helpful to identify a stroke, such as by checking how quickly your blood clots.

Treatment and Medication Options for a Stroke

Treatments for a stroke depend on the type of stroke.

Medication Options

The main treatment for an ischemic stroke is recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, a thrombolytic medication (clot buster). Two types of tPA are available: alteplase (Activase) and tenecteplase (TNKase). This medication can quickly break up or dissolve blood clots that are blocking blood flow to the brain. This drug must be started within a few hours of when the stroke symptoms first appeared. The sooner it is given, the better the chances of survival and recovery without complications.

Treatments for a hemorrhagic stroke include controlling blood pressure and stopping any medications that could increase bleeding, including warfarin and aspirin.

 Your doctor might also give you vitamin K, which plays an important role in blood clotting, to help stop bleeding.

Surgery

For an ischemic stroke, doctors may perform an endovascular catheter-based procedure in which a long, narrow tube is pushed through a blood vessel into your brain. This procedure is done to either deliver tPA directly to where the stroke is happening or to remove the blood clot from the blocked blood vessel (if it is in a large vessel that can be reached). These procedures must be done as soon as possible, generally within 24 hours.

A hemorrhagic stroke may require a procedure to help stop and prevent further bleeding. Surgeries may also be needed to repair damaged blood vessels. These procedures include:

  • Surgical clipping, in which a surgeon places a small clamp at the base of an aneurysm to stop blood flow
  • Endovascular embolization (also called coiling), in which a surgeon inserts tiny coils through a catheter to fill an aneurysm, causing the blood to clot
  • Surgical removal of an AVM, in which a surgeon uses a microscope and small, precise instruments to remove the AVM, if it is in an area that is easily accessed
  • Stereotactic radiosurgery, which utilizes radiation therapy to repair blood vessels

Rehabilitation

Over time, most people who have a stroke will recover some of the function they have lost. Stroke rehabilitation programs can help, although these programs will not “cure” or reverse brain damage caused by a stroke. Instead, the goal of stroke rehabilitation is to help stroke survivors live as independently as possible while adjusting to new limitations.

Stroke survivors may require:

  • Speech therapy
  • Physical therapy and strength training
  • Occupational therapy (relearning skills required for daily living)
  • Psychological counseling or therapy
Some common types of stroke programs and facilities include:

  • Inpatient rehabilitation or nursing facilities that provide 24-hour care
  • Outpatient facilities, where you may spend several hours a day doing rehabilitation activities
  • Home-based programs, in which therapists come to you

Disparities and Inequities in Stroke Risk and Outcomes

Several studies have looked at differences in stroke risk and outcomes among specific racial and ethnic populations.

Black Americans are about twice as likely to have a first stroke as white Americans. Black people also have the highest rate of death due to stroke in the United States.

In one study, researchers found that in a group of more than 3,000 older people in New York City, the risk of stroke was highest in Black participants, at 13 per 1,000 person-years (a way to measure incidence rates that shows how often something will happen if, for example, 100 people were followed for 10 years). This was followed by Hispanic participants, at 10, and white participants, at 9. When researchers looked just at those over age 85, Hispanic people had the highest incidence of stroke. The researchers noted that socioeconomic status, education, and lack of health insurance contributed to these disparities.

Hospital readmission rates after a stroke appear to be similar for different racial and ethnic groups. Of more than 98,000 ischemic stroke survivors, the 30-day readmission rate was 12.7 percent for Black survivors and 10 percent for white survivors.

Lifestyle Changes and Prevention of a Stroke

Management of risk factors may help prevent a stroke. Lifestyle-based stroke prevention measures include:

Additionally, if you have already had a transient ischemic attack, also known as a ministroke, or an ischemic stroke, your doctor may recommend certain drugs to reduce your stroke risk, such as:

Antiplatelet Drugs These medications make your blood less “sticky” and include aspirin, dipyridamole, clopidogrel (Plavix), and ticagrelor (brilinta).

Anticoagulants These medications reduce blood clotting and include heparin and warfarin along with newer drugs like dabigatran (Pradaxa), rivaroxaban (Xarelto), apixaban (Eliquis), and edoxaban (Savaysa).

Stroke Prognosis

When you have a stroke, brain cells in the affected area begin to die within minutes of losing oxygen. Many treatment options are most effective when given as soon as possible after a stroke begins. That’s why it’s important to seek emergency medical attention immediately and to note when a person’s stroke symptoms began.

Strokes can lead to outcomes ranging from a full recovery (without any lasting disability) to death. After emergency treatment and monitoring, your stroke care will be focused on helping you recover as much function as possible.

If you experience ongoing disability because of your stroke, the functions that are affected may depend on the side of your brain where your stroke occurred. A stroke on the right side of your brain tends to affect movement and sensation on the left side of your body. A stroke on the left side of your brain tends to affect the right side of your body and may also affect speech and language.

Most people who have a stroke will enter a rehabilitation program, which may begin before they leave the hospital. Your program will take into account your overall health, degree of disability from the stroke, recovery and lifestyle priorities, and support system.

After receiving emergency treatment for a stroke, hospital staff may refer you to a specialist to follow up on treatment and recovery plans. This will often be a vascular neurologist (stroke doctor), who can prescribe blood thinners or other interventional medications and a rehabilitation plan.

Depending on the severity of your stroke and complications, your neurologist may prescribe an entire medical team — physical, occupational, and psychiatric therapists — for rehabilitation. Be sure to double-check that this team specializes in your stroke rehab needs.

Complications of a Stroke

A stroke may cause temporary or permanent disabilities. Stroke complications will depend on which part of the brain was affected by the stroke and how long that area of the brain was deprived of oxygen.

Common stroke complications include:

  • Paralysis or loss of muscle movement
  • Memory loss or cognitive difficulty
  • Trouble with talking or swallowing
  • Pain or numbness
  • Emotional difficulty or loss of motivation

Aphasia After a Stroke

Aphasia is a condition characterized by a loss of the ability to communicate and is a common complication of a stroke. More than two million people in the United States have aphasia, commonly as a result of stroke.

There are several types of aphasia, categorized by the strengths and weaknesses of speech patterns. Symptoms may include:

  • Speaking in short or incomplete sentences
  • Speaking in ways that do not make any sense or saying unrecognizable words
  • Substituting one word or sound for another
  • Not understanding what other people are saying
  • Writing words or sentences that do not make any sense

Insomnia After a Stroke

Sleep is important for general health and well-being as well as for learning. For stroke survivors trying to relearn basic skills, adequate rest is even more important — it’s a key part of the stroke recovery process.

But good sleep can often be elusive for people who’ve had a stroke. Studies show that insomnia may be a long-term side effect for survivors of stroke, indicating that treating insomnia may be an important part of post-stroke rehabilitation.

This research shows the importance of including treatment of sleep disorders like insomnia in stroke rehabilitation practices.

Neuropathy After a Stroke

A stroke can damage your brain, potentially causing a type of neuropathy called central neuropathy. With this form of neuropathy, you may experience burning, sensory hypersensitivity, or prickling sensations in your face, arm, leg, or even half of your body.

This form of post-stroke pain tends to be ongoing and typically develops soon after a stroke, but it can also start later on. About 10 percent of stroke survivors experience central pain or neuropathy.

The Takeaway

  • Stroke is a common condition caused by either a blood clot or a brain bleed. Depending on where in your brain the stroke took place, long-term speech, memory, and movement complications can occur.
  • Strokes cannot be completely prevented, but certain lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, getting proper sleep, eating properly, and avoiding smoking and drinking alcohol, can help.
  • Black and Hispanic individuals are at a higher risk of stroke, along with people over age 65, men, and those who have underlying health conditions like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and other heart conditions.
  • Stroke treatment may include a combination of surgeries, medications, and rehabilitation programs to regain ability. Recovery time will largely depend on the severity of the stroke and how quickly treatment takes place.

FAQ

What are the signs of a stroke?

Common signs of stroke include numbness, weakness, and an inability to move the face, arm, or leg; trouble speaking; confusion; loss of balance; and severe headache. When in doubt, think FAST: face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call 911.

There are two main types of stroke: ischemic and hemorrhagic. An ischemic stroke happens when a blood clot blocks blood flow into the brain, and a hemorrhagic stroke happens when a blood vessel ruptures or leaks in the brain.

If you think you’re having a stroke, you or someone nearby needs to call 911 immediately and go to the nearest emergency room. Once interventional treatments are given and you’re stabilized, doctors will test for any stroke complications and provide recovery plans.

Strokes cannot be entirely prevented. However, certain lifestyle changes — like quitting smoking and drinking, getting regular exercise, sleeping well, and eating a balanced diet — can help reduce your risk.

Resources We Trust

EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
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Jessica Baity, MD

Medical Reviewer
Castle Connolly Top Doctor

Jessica Baity, MD, is a board-certified neurologist practicing in southern Louisiana. She cares for a variety of patients in all fields of neurology, including epilepsy, headache, dementia, movement disorders, multiple sclerosis, and stroke.

She received a bachelor's degree in international studies and history from the University of Miami and a master's in international relations from American University. She graduated from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine, where she also did her internship in internal medicine and her residency in neurology.

Prior to practicing medicine, she worked in international relations and owned a foreign language instruction and translation company. 

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A freelance health writer and editor based in Wisconsin, Quinn Phillips has a degree in government from Harvard University. He writes on a variety of topics, but is especially interested in the intersection of health and public policy. Phillips has written for various publications and websites, such as Diabetes Self-Management, Practical Diabetology, and Gluten-Free Living, among others.

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