The main cause of the disease is the narrowing of the carotid arteries of their lumen. Most often a narrowing of the lumen of the arteries results in deposition in the walls of atherosclerotic plaques. This is facilitated by smoking, elevated blood cholesterol and high blood pressure.
In rare cases, cause disease of carotid artery aneurysms are cerebral arteries - local saccular extensions of the lumen, which in case of sudden increase in blood pressure can rupture, leading to intracerebral hemorrhage, the so-called hemorrhagic stroke.
Other factors contributing to the development of carotid artery disease is diabetes mellitus.
Symptoms of carotid artery
In the early stages of the disease may not manifest itself. Unfortunately, quite often the earliest sign of disease is carotid artery stroke. However, the patient may experience the harbingers of stroke - transient ischemic attack.
The symptoms of transient ischemic attacks may last from several minutes to an hour and include: Feeling of weakness, numbness, tingling sensation in one half of the body Paralysis of the arms or legs Visual disturbances (darkening of the eyes) Loss of speech intelligibility
These symptoms usually disappear completely within 24 hours. But we should not ignore these symptoms. Transient ischemic attacks indicate a serious problem and the risk of stroke. If you have had a transient ischemic attack, you should immediately seek medical attention.
If these symptoms persist for more than a few hours is likely to have an attack of acute ischemic - a stroke. You should immediately seek medical attention.
