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Health Check: How to Spot a Deadly Bleed on the Brain

Magazines & Reviews

Brain Bleeds and Strokes

2018/08/29 GMT

How to Spot a Deadly Bleed on the Brain

BBC World Service - Health Check, How to Spot a Deadly Bleed on the Brain

How to spot the deadliest type of stroke which causes bleeding in the brain

How to spot a deadly bleed on the brain; a new approach to lowering blood pressure; what causes cramp and how to get rid of it.

Only 10-20% of strokes are caused by a ruptured blood vessel – instead of a blood clot – but this type is deadly, causing 40% of stroke deaths. A brain scan is used to tell which type of stroke a patient has had – and treatment is given to those with clots. There is currently no treatment for patients with a bleed on the brain – but now researchers in Edinburgh have worked out a simple checklist to predict which patients will recover – and which need close monitoring in case they bleed again. 

The main cause of strokes where there is a bleed is uncontrolled high blood pressure or hypertension. It can be treated, but that requires regular monitoring and sometimes extra medication needs to be added if the initial tablets aren’t bringing it down. New Australian research carried out in Sri Lanka has shown that a low-dose triple pill is more effective at lowering blood pressure than the current approach. 

Cramp is that agonising, sudden searing pain in a muscle – which often appears when you’re playing sport or even just lying in bed. A BBC World Service listener has asked us to find out what’s behind it – and what helps, so we sent our reporter in Sydney, Australia to find out. 



(Photo: Getty Images)     


Presented by Claudia Hammond.

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