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Schweizerischen Hirnschlaggesellschaft


Affected parties

Stroke and its causes

Every year, around 16,000 people in Switzerland suffer a stroke. Stroke is the third most common cause of death and the most important cause of long-term disability in adults. Around 15% of strokes are caused by cerebral haemorrhages and around 85% by cerebral infarctions. A cerebral haemorrhage causes blood to leak into the brain tissue (intracerebral haemorrhage) or between the meninges (subarachnoid haemorrhage), while a cerebral infarction causes a blood vessel in or around the brain to block (similar to a heart attack). The vascular occlusion means that the affected brain cells receive too little oxygen and nutrients, causing them to die.
The cause of such a vascular occlusion is usually a blood clot (thrombus), which forms either in the heart or in a large vessel supplying the brain and is then carried into a cerebral vessel with the blood flow. Other causes are calcification of large or small cerebral vessels.The "cerebral striation "
If the symptoms of a stroke disappear completely within a day, this is referred to as a stroke (technical term: transient ischemic attack (TIA)). As a TIA is a frequent harbinger of a stroke, it must be clarified in an emergency.What are the symptoms of a stroke?
 Hemiplegia or loss of sensation on one side of the body

  • Acute paralysis on one side of the body or impaired sensation of touch.

Dizziness and unsteady gait

  • Acute severe dizziness (spinning or swaying dizziness) and unsteady gait

Visual disturbances
Various visual disturbances can occur in the context of a stroke

  • Acute hemianopia (you can no longer see anything in the left or right field of vision)
  • Acute double vision
  • Acute visual disturbance in one eye

Speech, speech comprehension disorder

  • Acute speech or speech comprehension disorders: monosyllabic, choppy speech, swapping syllables or words up to complete loss of speech. Speech comprehension disorder. Indistinct speech.

What to do in an emergency?
If you or a relative experience one or more of these symptoms, you must call the emergency services immediately on 144. The person affected should lie down until the ambulance arrives. Do not give them any medication.Stroke prevention
A stroke occurs acutely, but the underlying cause develops over years. The most important risk factors for a stroke are

  • High blood pressure
  • Lipid metabolism disorder
  • Diabetes (diabetes mellitus)
  • Smoking and alcohol
  • Being overweight
  • Atrial fibrillation (link: Swiss Heart Foundation)
  • Age and heredity
  • Sleep apnea syndrome (snoring with pauses in breathing)

Further information

Further information for those affected and their relatives on the subject of stroke can be found at the Swiss Heart Foundation, Fragile Suisse and Aphasie Suisse.