Your brain needs a constant flow of blood to function properly and when this is interrupted permanent damage can occur quite quickly unless the flow is restarted.

Like the heart your brain cannot repair dead areas so the immediate aim of stroke treatment is to reduce the damage. After a stroke your brain needs to make new pathways round the dead area and stroke rehabilitation is the best method.

You can have either an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke.

Ischemic is medical speak for not enough blood. In an ischaemic stroke a clot blocks either the brains’ blood vessel or it is too narrow and not enough blood can flow. Blood cannot reach parts of the brain and the cells soon start to die.

It’s the commonest cause of strokes with around 75% of strokes classed as ischaemic strokes. The main risk factors are high blood pressure, atherosclerosis (damage and furring up of blood vessel walls), smoking and an irregular heartbeat.

Hemorrhagic is the opposite and means too much blood. A blood vessel bursts and this not only leaks blood out, which damages the area around the leak, but also reduces the amount flowing onwards. Hemorrhagic strokes account for about a quarter of the total and affect all ages.

The risk factors include hypertension, blood clotting disorders and weakness in the blood vessel wall leading to a balloon like effect called an aneurysm, that can pop.

Often after a stroke the initial problems such as with speech and movement start to improve after a few days to weeks. This is because brain cells that aren’t dead but have been damaged need time to recover. However this is only a small silver lining.

A fuller recovery involves you undergoing physical therapy, occupational therapy and possibly relearning speech, reading and writing.

In the past it was considered impossible for the brain to bypass damaged areas. This is incorrect and it is now recognised that with the correct stimulation the brain can bypass damaged areas and make new pathways for information to flow.

A steady flow of information to your brain and you responding to it is the way to get the best possible results for stroke rehabilitation. The whole thrust of rehabilitation is to boost your recovery and help the brain make new pathways. Much work is necessary but the results are usually worth it.