I've always been interested in what happens to the body/heart when someone has a stroke. I never really understood why it was always just one side of the body and how and why it affected one's speech and movement. So, my question is, what happens during a stroke?

A lot of what happens during a stroke is related to the nervous system, but the causes of a stroke are from the lack of blood supply to the brain. The lack of blood supply can be caused by a few different reasons; blood clot in an artery of the brain or rupture of a blood vessel in the brain, also called a cerebral hemorrhage.

(The Macmillian Encylopedia, 2003) Because of the lack of blood/oxygen, portions of the brain start to die which causes paralysis and sometimes death. (Mader, 2015) Some of the signs someone is having a stroke is slurred speech, one side of the face is droppy, numbness or temporary blindness.

(Mader, 2015) The reason that someone may get a blood clot or rupture a blood vessel is because of hypertension (high blood pressure) and other diseases related to the heart valves that is left untreated. High blood pressure is very much so preventable by taking care of yourself. Eating right, exercising and keeping stress levels down. Our textbook states that almost one in five young adults have high blood pressure. (Mader, 2015)

The recovery of a stroke victim is usually good. Most have to go through therapy to regain any function lost but that is minute to what it could've been. You could say that a stroke is preventable; maintain a healthy lifestyle to prevent hypertension (high blood pressure) which in turn will prevent strokes. A healthy heart = a healthy life!

Cassie

After reading about the cardiovascular system this week I found many interesting facts. One interesting topic that caught my attention was what the heart specifically does. Each side of the heart has a job and responsibility when it comes to pumping blood. What does each side of the heart specifically do?

The heart has two sides, separated by an inner wall called the septum.(Institute 2011) The right side of the heart pumps blood to the lungs. Blood is carried away from the heart through arteries.

When the blood arrives at the lungs it then receives oxygen. The oxygenated blood is then pumped back to the heart where the left side distributes it to the rest of the body. Blood that comes back to the heart is carried through veins.

· The pulmonary artery carries blood from the right side of the heart to the lungs to pick up a fresh supply of oxygen. (Institute 2011)

· The pulmonary veins carry oxygen-rich blood from the lungs to the left side of the heart so it can be pumped to the body. (Institute 2011)

Finding information in regards to the heart and how each side functions was pretty easy. The APUS library had several different articles in the database. Also, for other sources I made sure to look for certified sources ending in .gov or .net.

I chose to discuss the cardiovascular system. To be the body is a crazy and mysterious thing. To think of all the things going on in your body right at this moment is crazy! Your heart is a main reason as to why you are still living and breathing. It pumps the blood throughout your body, and without it your body would not be oxygenated.

It pumps deoxygenated blood to your lungs and oxygenated blood to the remainder of your body. Some people's hearts are stronger than others. For example, I believe the average male has a resting heartbeat of sixty-five beats per minute, but I have a resting heartbeat of forty-two beats per minute.

This system also contains veins and arteries in which the heart pumps the blood throughout the blood through. Even at rest, the average heart easily pumps over five liters of blood throughout the body every minute (Innerbody.com). I chose this because to me it is just amazing how much one organ and simply do so much.

The body relies on this one thing to support pretty much everything else, it is the make or break of the body. Without it the body would slowly start to die. I look forward to reading and learning more about the cardiovascular system and seeing how all it works. As i said before, the body is mysterious and there is so much to learn about it.

Currently I am actually teaching a medical class to High School students as a recruiter for the Army and how to provide immediate first aid to a possible car accident victim. This will help produce more knowledge for me as well.