Signs and Symptoms of Stroke

Brain damage from stroke may result in a variety of signs and symptoms, including:

• Weakness or paralysis of muscles
• Loss or reduced muscle coordination
• Loss of sensation
• Loss of balance
• Blindness in portions of the visual fields
• Double vision or blurred vision
• Speech problems: fluency, understanding, slurred speech, reading, writing
• Cognitive problems: memory, attention, problem solving, calculations, confusion
• Hemineglect (problems in paying attention to one side of the body)
• Swallowing problems
• Dizziness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Headache
• Seizure
• Impaired consciousness

Impairment of motor function is on the opposite side as that of the brain damage so that left hemisphere strokes affect the right side, and vice versa. Certain functions such as speech are usually affected more when the stroke occurs in the left hemisphere of the brain. The stroke patient may also experience symptoms that may be (but are not necessarily) due to the stroke itself such as fatigue, depression, insomnia, and sleep disordered breathing, and urinary incontinence.