Americans for Older Driver Safety

5 days ago

Coronavirus and strokes: Doctors are finding a disturbing trend that coronavirus is causing blood clots in younger people.

Dr. Theresa Capriotti, DO, MSN, RN, at Villanova University, told Healthline. “The coronavirus has been shown to cause development of microthrombi [small clots]. These clots can travel to the lung and obstruct blood flow to the lung, which is called pulmonary embolism, or travel to brain circulation and cause ischemic stroke.”
“It seems to be happening to those affected with severe COVID symptoms,” Capriotti said. “It can occur in any age group and it occurs suddenly.”

The symptoms to watch out for include:
1) Weakness or paralysis of the extremities on one side of the body;
2) Lack of sensation in extremities on one side of the body;
3) Facial droop on one side of the face; and,
4) Speech impairment.

NYC doctors at The Mount Sinai Hospital saw an increased number of stroke patients with Covid19. They suspect that the virus is affecting the lining of the blood vessels all through the body. This will lead to strokes. The scary part of this is that doctors are seeing strokes in people with absolutely no symptoms of having the coronavirus.

Major points that health professionals have observed:
1) Patients with signs of stroke were delaying coming to the hospital for fear of getting the coronavirus. There's a small window of time in which strokes are treatable, so delays can be life threatening.
2) The mortality rate in these covid-19 stroke patients is 42.8%. The typical mortality from stroke is around 5 to 10%.
3) 42% of the stroke coronavirus positive patients studied were under the age of 50. Most strokes, over 75% of all strokes in the US, occur in people over the age of 65.
4) The incidence of coronavirus in the stroke population was 31.5%.
5) Patients observed had stroke in large vessels, in both hemispheres of the brain, and in both arteries and veins of the brain -- all of these observations are unusual in stroke patients.

So if you get sick with Covid-19 be aware of the possibilities of having a stroke and don't take you symptoms for granted.

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