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How Does A Brain Aneurysm Affect The Body?

Cerebral aneurysm or brain aneurysm is a weak area of brain’s blood vessel, which often enlarges. Doctors many times describe it as ballooning of various blood vessels.

How/Why Aneurysms in Brain Formed?

People do not suffer from the problem of brain or cerebral aneurysm since the birth; instead, many of them develop after crossing 40 years age. Aneurysm often develops at arteries’ branching points because of constant pressure from the flow of blood. In addition, aneurysms enlarge in a slow way and become weak with their growth, as similar to the case of a balloon that becomes weak when it experiences stretch.

Aneurysms even have close association with various other forms/types of disorders present in the blood vessel of humans. These are cerebral arthritis, fibromuscular dysplasia and arterial dissection.

However, the mentioned problems are unusual. These aneurysms run in family members, but individuals rarely born with aneurysms’ predisposition. A few of the aneurysms problems take place because of infections and cocaine or amphetamines drugs, which cause damage to the blood vessels present in the human brain or direct mental trauma because of an accident.

How Does A Brain Aneurysm Affect The Body?

How Does A Brain Aneurysm Affect The Body?

Effects of brain aneurysm on other parts of a human body depend on its type or nature. Small or slow growing aneurysms generally do not produce any symptom and may never create adverse effects in the body.

On the other side, growing type of aneurysms put pressure on the tissues of human brain or nearby nerves of it. This leads to pain above or behind the eyes, drooping eyelid, dilated pupils and changes in vision, face paralysis and numbness. Once rupture of aneurysm takes place, it leads to painful headache.

Here, patients deal with severe and sudden pain, along with vomiting and nausea. Moreover, in some cases, patients lose their consciousness. Moreover, you will find a few other symptoms, like neck stiffness, double/blurred vision, confusion and sensitivity to the light rays.

Factors Involved in Rupture Risk of Aneurysm

Size of the brain aneurysm is the strongest factor associated with rupture risk. Large aneurysms have higher risks related to rupture than the smaller ones. In the same way, the aneurysms growing at a faster rate have more risks.

At approximately 2 inches or 5 cm diameter, the risk related to rupture increases in an exponential manner. This indicates that for a small increase in the size, there would be a higher risk associated with rupture. Growth rate of aneurysm even influences rupture risks. Aneurysms growing at a faster rate than half centimeter yearly remain at increased rupture risk.

Cigarette smoking particularly has an association with aneurysm formation and at the same time, to increase the rupture risk. Other factors involving in increasing the rupture risk are chronic obstructive pulmonary problem and high blood pressure. Females remain at higher risk than men have for any specific size of an aortic aneurysm.

Severity of Brain Aneurysm and its Rupture

Arteries present in the brain occasionally form a bulge or a weak spot referred as aneurysm. Here, the concern arises that it may create rupture or burst at the respective weak spot resulting in the leakage of blood within the brain referred commonly as brain aneurysm hemorrhage. Rupture is a severe health condition and it sometimes become fatal or makes individuals permanent disabled or paralytic one.

Keeping this fact in mind, doctors detect the problem of brain aneurysm based on different scanning techniques. Once the detection completes and if a patient justifies being a candidate for surgery, they follow two different surgical treatments to reduce the rupture risks. These include-

  • Open Brain Surgery or Craniotomy
  • Endovascular surgery i.e. a less invasive form of surgery.

Preference of any particular surgery from the aforementioned two options depends solely on the exact location of aneurysm. Aneurysm is obviously a severe medical condition and requires treatment within less possible span of time.

References:

  1. “Brain Aneurysm – Causes.” Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/brain-aneurysm/symptoms-causes/syc-20361483
  2. “Brain Aneurysm.” Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/4929-cerebral-aneurysm
  3. “Brain Aneurysm Symptoms, Causes, and Treatments.” MedlinePlus. https://medlineplus.gov/brainaneurysm.html

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Team PainAssist
Team PainAssist
Written, Edited or Reviewed By: Team PainAssist, Pain Assist Inc. This article does not provide medical advice. See disclaimer
Last Modified On:August 21, 2023

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