Why does stroke cause hemiplegia

As the name implies, right hemiparesis is weakness on the right side of the body, while left hemiparesis is weakness on the left side of the body. What causes this weakness in one side of the body and not the other varies, but damage to the nervous system from injury, infection, or degenerative conditions can result in hemiparesis.

In the case of degenerative conditions such as multiple sclerosis or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ALS , hemiparesis may progress into hemiplegia with time. The disorder is on a continuum, with symptoms ranging from minor and sporadic to extensive and severe. Telltale signs include:. Importantly, doctors will look for injuries on the affected side to rule out other causes, such as pinched nerves, muscle strains, or loss of blood flow.

Where hemiparesis indicates weakness on one side of the body, hemiplegia indicates partial or total paralysis instead. Because paralysis is an extreme form of weakness and nerve dysfunction, hemiplegia can be considered an extreme form of hemiparesis.

Hemiplegia should not be confused with paraplegia , which is a condition that affects the lower body. However, the causes of hemiplegia and paraplegia are frequently similar. Left hemiplegia is the paralysis of limbs on the left side of the body, while right hemiplegia indicates paralysis on the right side of the body. Like hemiparesis, right or left hemiplegia may be caused by damage to the nervous system.

One common cause of left or right hemiplegia is an incomplete spinal cord injury. In an incomplete SCI, only part of the spinal cord is severed, so there may still be some function below the injury site. Paralysis can change over time , and not all people with hemiplegia are completely immobilized or suffer a complete loss of sensation on the affected side. Nevertheless, if paralysis is not extensive, a doctor will likely diagnose hemiparesis instead of hemiplegia.

Symptoms of hemiplegia include:. Hemiplegia can change over time , such that some areas of the affected side may be more significantly affected than others. There are a number of conditions that can cause hemiparesis or hemiplegia. Examples of hemiparesis and hemiplegia causes include strokes, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, infections, and a handful of other conditions affecting the central nervous system.

Both hemiparesis and hemiplegia are nervous system disorders, not caused by injury to the affected side of the body. The most common cause of both injuries is a stroke. Strokes interfere with blood flow to the brain.

If a region of the brain that affects movement or perception is affected, hemiparesis or hemiplegia may develop. The affected region is usually the opposite of the side of the brain affected, so an injury to the right side of the brain will affect the left side of the body.

Rarely, psychological conditions can manifest as hemiparesis or hemiplegia. Results Table 1 shows descriptive characteristics of all patients in the 3 groups. Table 1 Demographic characteristics of all patients, stratified according to the site of hemiparesis.

Open in a separate window. Figure 1. Table 2 Outcome measures, stratified according to the site of hemiparesis. FIM - functional independence measure. Table 3 Multiple regression analyses between site of hemiparesis and functional recovery. Discussion The objective of this study aims to examine the FR differences after stroke rehabilitation in patients with uni- or bilateral hemiparesis.

Footnotes Disclosure. References 1. Muscle strengthening for hemiparesis after stroke: A meta-analysis. Ann Phys Rehabil Med. Heart disease and stroke statistics update: a report from the American Heart Association.

Hemispheric specialization for movement control produces dissociable differences in online corrections after stroke. Cerebral cortex. Marx JA, Rosen P.

Rosen's emergency medicine: concepts and clinical practice. Accessing rehabilitation after stroke - a guessing game?

Disabil Rehabil. Principles of neural science. Piracetam for aphasia in post-stroke patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. CNS Drugs. Is the basic trunk control recovery different between stroke patients with right and left hemiparesis? Gracies JM. Pathophysiology of spastic paresis. I: Paresis and soft tissue changes.

Muscle Nerve. Crossed cerebellar diaschisis in acute ischemic stroke: Impact on morphologic and functional outcome. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. Effect of mental practice using inverse video of the unaffected upper limb in a subject with chronic hemiparesis after stroke.

J Phys Ther Sci. Stroke in Saudi Arabia: a review of the recent literature. Pan Afr Med J. Stroke rehabilitation. A call to action in Saudi Arabia. Neurosciences Riyadh ; 21 — These diseases include high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, carotid artery disease, peripheral vascular disease, atrial fibrillation and other heart disease, and sickle cell disease. Many of these risk factors can be controlled by adopting a healthy diet and taking prescribed medication.

Activity in your life will also help reduce your risk. Stopping smoking, alcohol and recreational drug use can significantly reduce the risk of a stroke. If you have a spinal cord stroke or other spinal cord injury, the complication of Autonomic Dysreflexia AD puts you at higher risk for a stroke in your brain. Over time, an individual with spinal cord injury will experience low blood pressure as their normal.

An elevation to a normal range can indicate high blood pressure for that person. More information about autonomic dysreflexia is available here. Some medical procedures have a risk for a spinal cord or brain stroke such as heart bypass surgery, open abdominal aortic aneurism, spinal surgery, or clot removal in the spinal arteries.

Stroke risk is increased with any surgery, test or procedure that can create or dislodge a blood clot. Stoke in the spinal cord has unclear symptoms. The signs of a spinal cord stroke can be confused with other illnesses.

Any or all the symptoms can appear. The symptoms of a stroke in the spinal cord are:. Noticing a stroke in the spine can be difficult. You may have one, a combination or all the symptoms. It is important that you call if your symptoms of a spinal cord stroke appear. A -ARMS-an individual may not be able to raise one arm as high as the other or one arm may drift downward.

You might have one of these symptoms, a few or all of them. You might not realize you are having the symptoms of a stroke. Someone else might notice these symptoms. Be sure to note the time of onset of symptoms. This is critical for treatment. Spinal cord stroke results in full or partial paralysis below the level of injury, bowel and bladder issues, sexual dysfunction, mobility and sensation difficulty.

The result can be tetraplegia quadriplegia , paraplegia, or one of the spinal cord syndromes. Abilities will vary depending on the location of the stroke in the spine. After a stroke in the spinal cord, some may experience pain, uncomfortable numbness, or strange sensations.

These may be due to many factors including damage to the spine which may interrupt the communication of messages between the body from the brain. Spinal cord stroke disrupts these messages at the level of the stroke in the spinal cord. A stroke in the spinal cord can lead to depression due to the challenges of chronic illness. Loss of mental or physical function can be daunting. Changes in lifestyle and family dynamics compound the issue. Left Brain Stroke can result in full or partial paralysis on the right side of the body.

There might be difficulty in understand speech or speaking words, word finding or unusual use of words or sounds. The individual is typically cautious or even sometimes timid in behavior. Memory loss can be present. Right Brain Stroke characteristics are full or partial paralysis on the left side of the body. There are often visual difficulties, quick and impulsive movements and thoughts.

In left or right brain stroke, a visual field cut called hemianopsia can occur. The individual is not blind, but the visual field is reduced in both eyes. As a result, vision to one side is absent. The side of the visual field cut will be the same as side as paralysis in the body.

The individual is unable to recognize that the visual field cut area is missing. This neglect can lead to injury to the neglected side even to the point that they do not recognize that body part as their own. Brainstem stroke has the symptoms of vertigo and dizziness with imbalance. Functional abilities vary which can lead to locked in syndrome where the person understands what is happening but cannot physically or verbally respond. Your mental wellbeing can be affected by a stroke.

Depending on the location of a stroke in the brain, you might have difficulty in remembering, being careless, irritable or have some confusion. Some people will laugh or cry inappropriately.

The appropriate response to a stroke is emergency action. Call Do not attempt to drive yourself or let someone drive you to the hospital. Emergency personnel can begin the process of recovery. Every minute lost, from the onset of symptoms to the time of emergency contact, cuts into the limited window of opportunity for intervention.

Stroke prevention measures should be undertaken to reduce your risk of both a spine or brain attack. This includes the main three preventions; diet, exercise, smoking cessation. Other risk factors that you can control should be modified. Medication can also help reduce stroke risk. Medications to reduce cholesterol, blood thinners and antiplatelet medications should be taken as your healthcare provider prescribes. Ischemic stroke is treated by removing the obstruction and restoring blood flow to the brain.

This is done by breaking up the obstruction using the drug, tissue plasminogen activator t-PA. Reversal of ischemic stroke can be achieved if the drug is administered within 6 hours of the onset of symptoms.

During motor-imagery exercises, you will be asked to imagine yourself using a certain part of your body. As you imagine these body parts moving, certain areas of your brain and muscles may be active as if you were actually doing the activity. This mental practice has been shown to improve arm movement in patients with hemiparesis, and research suggests that motor-imagery exercises may be useful in helping patients walk.

Assistive devices, such as braces, canes, walkers, and wheelchairs, can increase strength and movement in patients with weakened or paralyzed limbs. Rehabilitation treatment and assistive devices can help increase mobility and work towards recovery. Additionally, there are a variety of home modifications—such as installing ramps and raised toilet seats—that can improve the safety of those with one-sided weakness or paralysis. All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or immediately. Reliance on any information provided by the Saebo website is solely at your own risk.

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