• Cerebral thrombosis
• Cerebral embolism.
• Cerebral hemorrhage
• Subarachnoid hemorrhages.

Cerebral thrombosis and cerebral embolism are caused by clots or particles that plug an artery while cerebral and sub-arachnoid hemorrhages are caused by ruptured blood vessels. Although stroke is a problem of the brain, it can affect the entire body. Some of the disabilities that can result from stroke include paralysis, cognitive deficits, speech problems, emotional difficulties, daily living problems, and Discomfort.

• Ask your doctor to evaluate you for a surgical procedure that scrapes away fatty deposits in one or both of the main arteries in the neck.
• Reduce blood levels of cholesterol to below 200 milligrams per deciliter (measured by a blood test).
• Get regular exercise. 
• Keep your weight down. 
• Avoid smoking. 
• Keep blood sugar levels under control if you're diabetic.
• Control your blood pressure and have it checked regularly and, if necessary, take medication prescribed by the physician. 
• Avoid taking oral contraceptive pills, if possible.
• Learn to manage stress 
• Ask your doctor about taking aspirin.

• Dizziness.
• Absent-mindedness or temporary loss of memory or mental ability.
• Numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg.
• Garbled speech.
• Eye problems, including temporary loss of sight in one eye or double vision.
• Sudden onset of severe headaches.

Any of the above signs may be temporary and last only a few minutes. This may be due to a "little stroke" or "mini-stroke" called a transient Ischemic attack or T.I.A. Most strokes aren't preceded by TIAs. However, amongst the people who've had one or more TIAs, more than a third will later have a stroke. In fact, a person who's had one or more TIAs is a lot more likely to have a stroke than someone of the same age and sex who hasn't.

As these conditions become evident the following tests are performed by a physician for the detection of stroke:

Carotid Duplex: This procedure uses to register the carotid artery walls and their lumen (interior). This test also looks at the rate the blood flows through the carotid artery (in the neck), which supplies blood to the brain. The test can detect atherosclerotic plaque and blood clots.

Computerized Axial Tomographic scan (CAT scan): This test uses X-rays to generate an image of the brain. Doctors use CT to determine whether a stroke has occurred and to identify the type of stroke.

Magnetic resonance imaging scanning (M.R.I.): In this procedure the patient is placed in a magnetic field, causing the behavior of brain cells to change. Once the patient is in a magnetic field, the head is subjected to bursts of energy of a known frequency. The response of the brain cells to these bursts of energy is detected as signals that ultimately generate an image of the brain. MRI can give very accurate images of the brain and is used to determine the presence, location and size of aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations, which are potential sources for hemorrhagic stroke.

Radio nuclide Angiography: During this test radioactive compounds are injected into a vein in the arm. The bloodstream then carries them toward the head. As the radioactive compound circulates in the bloodstream, it constantly emits bursts of radiation. Once the radioactive compound reaches the brain, these bursts of radiation are detected and used to form an image of the brain. This imaging procedure can show areas where the brain has been deprived of blood flow and is damaged.

Electroencephalogram (E.E.G.): During E.E.G. small metal disks (electrodes) are placed at strategic locations on a person's scalp. The electrodes can detect the electrical activity in the form of impulses that are then transcribed to paper. By observing such impulse characteristics as intensity (the size of the impulse), duration (the width of the impulse), frequency (how often impulses occur during a given time) and location (what region of the brain produces these impulses), an EEG can provide valuable information about underlying problems in the brain.

Evoked Response Test: This is a diagnostic procedure that provides a measurement of the brain's ability to process and react to different sensory stimuli. It evokes a visual response by flashing a light or checkerboard pattern in front of the patient. For auditory evoked responses, a doctor produces a sound in one of the patient's ears. For bodily evoked responses, one of the nerves in an arm or leg is electrically stimulated. The responses from these sensory stimuli can indicate abnormal areas of the brain.

Doppler Ultrasound Test: This test uses high-frequency sound waves to detect blockages in the carotid artery. A Doppler probe or instrument capable of generating ultrasound waves is placed on the neck very near to the carotid artery. Ultrasound waves from the probe travel through the neck and bounce off the moving blood cells. The reflected sound wave, now returning to the probe at a different frequency, is then detected by the same probe. The change in frequency of the sound waves relates to the speed of the blood cells and thus the blood flow.

Carotid Phonoangiography: During this test a sensitive microphone is placed on the neck, very close to the carotid artery, to record sounds. The presence of blockages, such as those caused by Deposition of substances on the wall of blood vessel, leading to narrowing of blood vessel, causes the blood flow to become turbulent. This turbulent blood flow can create a sound, called a bruit that can be detected and registered by the microphone. A bruit indicates a blockage in the carotid artery and is cause for more tests.

Digital Subtraction Angiography (D.S.A.): This test gives an image of the brain's major blood vessels. A thin plastic tube (a catheter) is inserted into a major artery of the leg and navigated through the body's major vessels until it reaches the brain's blood vessels. A contrast dye is injected through the catheter and allowed to circulate in the blood stream. At that point, an X-ray machine quickly takes a series of pictures of the head and neck. The images track the movement of the contrast dye as it moves through the brain's blood vessels. This technique lets the doctor identify and localize the source of stroke.