Ischemic vs. hemorrhagic stroke: Which is more serious?

[Text on screen: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Ischemic vs. hemorrhagic stroke: Which is more serious?]

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[Text on screen: Matthew Gusler, DO
Osteopathic Physician
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center] 

Matthew Gusler, DO: So there are two main types of strokes. There's an ischemic stroke, which happens when one of the blood vessels to the brain becomes blocked off. Part of the brain starts to not get enough blood, starts to starve, becomes injured, and can even die. And then there's a hemorrhagic stroke, which is where there is a bleed in the brain. 

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One of the blood vessels to the brain breaks and there's bleeding into an area in the brain causing injury. Bleeding stroke or hemorrhagic stroke is often more severe or more fatal than an ischemic stroke or a blood vessel that's blocked off. 

[Text on screen: Matthew Gusler, DO
Osteopathic Physician
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center] 

That said, that's what you see when you zoom way out and put a bunch of people together. When we zoom way back in and look at the individual person in front of us, there's big variability. Sometimes people with ischemic strokes can have very severe strokes, or mild. 

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People with hemorrhagic strokes can have very severe syndrome or mild.

[Text on screen: The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
For more information, visit: wexnermedical.osu.edu/stroke]

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