top 20 medical terms to know

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1. Ischemic Stroke: Occurs when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain, reducing blood flow.

2. Hemorrhagic Stroke: Happens when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, leading to bleeding in or around the brain.

3. Thrombus: A blood clot that forms within a blood vessel, potentially causing blockage.

4. Embolus: A clot or foreign material (such as air or fat) that travels through the bloodstream and gets lodged in a blood vessel, causing blockage.

5. Infarct: The area of tissue death or damage in the brain due to lack of blood supply, often seen in ischemic strokes.

6. Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA): Also known as a mini-stroke, it is a temporary episode of stroke-like symptoms caused by a temporary decrease in blood supply to the brain.

7. Aphasia: Difficulty with speaking, understanding language, reading, or writing, often seen in stroke patients.

8. Dysphasia: Partial impairment of language skills, affecting the ability to communicate verbally.

9. Hemiparesis: Weakness on one side of the body, typically affecting one arm and one leg.

10. Hemiplegia: Paralysis on one side of the body, typically affecting one arm and one leg.

11. Dysarthria: Difficulty with speaking due to weakness or lack of coordination of the muscles used in speech.

12. Ataxia: Loss of coordination or unsteadiness, affecting movements and balance.

13. Nystagmus: Involuntary, rhythmic eye movements, often seen in stroke patients with damage to specific areas of the brain.

14. Dysphagia: Difficulty swallowing, which can lead to choking or aspiration of food or liquids into the lungs.

15. Contralateral: Referring to the opposite side of the body from where a brain lesion or stroke occurs.

16. Homonymous Hemianopsia: Visual field loss affecting the same side of both eyes, typically due to damage to the visual pathway in the brain.

17. Aneurysm: A bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel, which can rupture and cause bleeding in the brain.

18. Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM): An abnormal tangle of blood vessels in the brain, which can rupture and cause hemorrhagic strokes.

19. Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Bleeding that occurs within the brain tissue, often due to the rupture of a small blood vessel.

20. Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: Bleeding that occurs in the space between the brain and the thin tissues covering it, often due to the rupture of an aneurysm.