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During a stroke part of your brain is starved of blood in much the same way as during a heart attack. So that is why strokes are also called brain attacks or the older name cerebrovascular accident (CVA).

The flow of blood to your brain has to be restored fairly quickly or the result will be permanent damage, as your brain needs blood constantly.

As the brain cannot fix damaged areas the first aim in the treatment of stroke is to keep the damage as small as possible. During stroke rehabilitation the brain is encouraged to bypass the affected area and so reduce your post stroke symptoms.

Strokes can be divided into 2 broad categories, which are Ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes.

Ischemic is medical jargon for too little blood. During an ischemic stroke a clot that either comes from the heart or forms in a narrowed segment, blocks a small blood vessel. The resulting lack of blood means brain cells begin to be damaged.

Most strokes are ischemic in nature and the risk factors include blood vessel disease, smoking, hypertension and heart arrhythmias particularly atrial fibrillation.

Hemorrhagic is the opposite and means too much blood. A blood vessel bursts and this not only leaks blood out, which damages the area around the leak, but also reduces the amount flowing onwards. Hemorrhagic strokes account for about a quarter of the total and affect all ages.

The main risk factors are aneurysms (weak blood vessel walls which stretch like a balloon before ‘popping’), high blood pressure (especially if untreated or unknown) and blood clotting disorder.

In the early stages after a stroke, which means the first few weeks, your initial problems may start to improve quite quickly. This is down to malfunctioning brain cells at the edge of the dead area recovering. This is great but can be a false dawn as for most people several months of rehab are looming.

A fuller recovery involves you undergoing physical therapy, occupational therapy and possibly relearning speech, reading and writing.

In the past it was considered impossible for the brain to bypass damaged areas. This is incorrect and it is now recognised that with the correct stimulation the brain can bypass damaged areas and make new pathways for information to flow.

A steady flow of information to your brain and you responding to it is the way to get the best possible results for stroke rehabilitation. The whole thrust of rehabilitation is to boost your recovery and help the brain make new pathways. Much work is necessary but the results are usually worth it.