Ohio State Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones died this week in Cleveland from a brain aneurtsm that ruptured while she was driving. She was taken to the Cleveland Clinic and was unable to recover. She was only 58 years old.
Brain aneurysms are little balloon type 'pockets' that are found in the arteries. Many are in the brain but can also be found around the heart or in the legs or other areas of the body.
It is thought that about 4% of people have aneurysms (based on autopsy statistics) which is pretty staggering. Most people don't even know they have an aneurysm and live with it. Unless it ruptures, they can live to be 100 and die of other causes. Aneurysms themselves are not fatal but if they rupture, they can be - and death can be fast. About 10% of people who have an aneurysm will experience a rupture.
WebMD has a question and answer session with Howard Kirshner, MD, professor and chairman of neurology at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville. I thought I'd put it here, to educate us a little more about this mysterious but scary condition -
"What is a brain aneurysm?
"An [unruptured] aneurysm looks kind of like a balloon, an out-pouching of an artery," Kirshner says. "It almost always occurs at a point where the artery branches off."
While Tubbs Jones had a cerebral, or brain aneurysm; aneurysms can also occur in the aorta (the major artery from the heart), the leg, and other areas. Aneurysms are related to weaknesses in the blood vessel wall.
How common is a brain aneurysm?
''We think that many people have them -- up to 4% have it at autopsy," Kirshner says, citing research, but many show no symptoms. According to Kirshner, about 5% of people will develop a brain aneurysm during their lifetime, but only about 10% of them will experience a rupture.
As a crude estimate, he says, perhaps 25,000 to 50,000 people a year in the U.S. have a brain hemorrhage caused by a ruptured aneurysm. Family history plays a role, experts believe. Family members of a patient with a brain aneurysm have an increased risk of having one. Yet only a small percentage of these are related to hereditary syndromes associated with aneurysms.
Women are more likely than men to have an aneurysm, and African-Americans have more risk of hemorrhage from an aneurysm than do whites.
What are the symptoms that an aneurysm has ruptured?
Aneurysms often go undetected because they can have no symptoms until they rupture and bleed. When that happens, it can cause a sudden severe headache and sometimes nothing more than that, Kirshner says. "But it is usually not like any other headache you've had. It is very sudden or severe, the worst headache of your life." Other symptoms include severe neck pain, dizziness, nausea, and sensitivity to light.
One-third to nearly half of patients have minor hemorrhages or "warning leaks" that later lead to a severe devastating brain hemorrhage days later.
Sometimes, when an aneurysm ruptures, it can go unnoticed, with the person passing off the headache. But once it ruptures, Kirshner says, it is more likely to re-bleed.
Is there a typical age bracket for aneurysms to rupture?
"They are most common in middle age -- the 40s and 50s are the peak ages," he says. But they can happen at any age. "I've seen them in teenagers. They do occasionally occur in elderly people."
What can someone do to reduce the risk of an aneurysm growing and rupturing?
"Not smoking and treating hypertension prevent aneurysms from growing and rupturing," Kirshner says.
In general, what is the outlook for someone whose brain aneurysm bursts?
The prognosis, Kirshner says, "is very uncertain." A ruptured aneurysm can cause sudden death, he says. In general, "if you are in bad shape right in the beginning, the odds of recovery are much lower." The overall death rate once the aneurysm ruptures is about 40%, he says.
What might be done when the rupture is discovered?
Getting treatment as soon as possible is critical, he says. If it's possible to do surgery, one option is to go in surgically and put a clip across the aneurysm to stop bleeding. "An even more common surgery is to go through the artery and deploy a coil [into the aneurysm, using a tiny catheter] and the coil causes the aneurysm to shut off." The coil causes a clot to form around the sac, sealing off the aneurysm defect."
http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20080821/aneurysms-common-sometimes-dead...
If anyone has anything to add or had their own experience, I'd love to hear it!
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Add a Comment96 Comments
I just lost a sister age 56 from an right brain bleed. She couldn't be saved. Very sudden and had sizures for an hour or more and her husband got her to ER.
June 14, 2014 - 10:32pm15 yrs ago she had brain surgery to remove two tumors. family is wanting more understanding of why. 15 yrs ago had stroke, that's when the tumors were discovered.
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I am 33 and had 2 aneurysms, 1 ruptured and 1 didn't. When the rupture occurred I had a thunderclap headache and that was it. I still went to my stats class. The next day I started vomiting and couldn't move my neck so we actually thought I had meningitis. My BF took me to the ER and we discovered the bleed. I had surgery but they only clipped the ruptured one. I don't recall going to surgery or the week after but I was very out of it, I was almost put on a feeding tube because i didn't eat for 4 days. A week after I left the hospital I returned to the ER with a headache and nausea, it turns out I developed hydrocephalus which is common after aneurysm surgery. I had a second surgery to place a shunt and clip the ochre aneurysm. I am a few weeks out of that surgery now and I am slowly getting better. I am lucky that I won't have any defects from this whole ordeal other than my scars.
June 6, 2014 - 7:03amThis Comment
I had aneurysm in they year 1998 was hospitalized as it was difficult to diagnize my situation, one night i had fits and slippped into coma, that when the doctors took me in for surgery. I was told it was a blood clot that caused pressure on my blood vessels. When I came out of it I was given anti seizure tablets and I've been fine after that. I used to get seizures but it's been 5 years now and i am seizure free. but over the past couple of weeks I have been getting head aches on and off, not sever at all, I take advil and then I am fine. I want to know if I need to get it checked. I know I had Anuerysm. But dont know if it can recurr. I had ultra sounds done on my body and none were found there. But this head ache, is kind of worrying me. Normally it wouldnt but I am just concerned. I am 42 years of age now and m overweight too. I dont smoke at all. Please let me know. I live in Canada. Thanks
November 20, 2012 - 3:56pmThis Comment
mitchel~~
October 17, 2012 - 3:47pmmy mother have a ruptured anurism. she cant speak but she can understand us. she cannot move the right part of her body. after 3months of theraphy shes doing well she can now move her legs and she can walk.her doctor said she need to clip the anurism but we r scared for the operation
she can live without operation? pls help us to decide.
thanx a lot......
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I'm 19 years old almost 20 I found out I have one at the age of 16 due to trauma from being abuse by my dad but everyone of the doctors that did my surgery were stunned that I was so young.. but I had my coiled so far everything has been great.. o BTW mine was found from horrible headaches for three months straight not going away
September 29, 2012 - 12:46amThis Comment
My daughters friend is only 15 and just had one rupture. she is at OKC children's hospital. What could have caused this? She was at the water park then she got a headache. Could birth control do this?
June 15, 2012 - 7:02amThis Comment
I am a 44 year old women and I have been diagnosised with 6me brain aneurysm. The Dr told me they where hereditary because of family history and because the mirror each other. So I have 3a brain aneurysm on 1a side and 3 on the other. So if you took my brainni and cut it in half and laid it on top each others it would look exactly the same. I was very fortunate to find a good Dr. Dr. Dion in Atlanta and he was the founder of the coiling process out of UCLA. The ones that could be repaired he coiled them and the ones that are inoperaw he just monitors them. Thank you for letting me share my story if anyone has any questions. Please feeler free to FB me.
February 29, 2012 - 12:54pmThis Comment
My mother had one happen and it ruptured, she was awake during the whole thing. I called 911 and they took her to the hospital thinking she was having a migraine.. She started vomiting and then they took notice and gave her an x-ray. They told her and us that she would pass away and that we needed to say goodbye.She pulled through though and she is doing great. She has minor balance problems and that's about it. When she forgets something (not often) she blames it on the aneurysm..
January 17, 2012 - 11:08pmThis Comment
I have a question my boyfriend has a aneurysm on his brain and he also is a diabetic:( I know a lot he smokes weed every now and then what kind of pointers can you give me to keep him healthy and to make him understand his life is more important than weed. I just want to do what ever is possible to help him he is a great person. He says the weed help ease the pain. He stay having headaches....
December 24, 2011 - 6:25pmThis Comment
Hi, I had a brain aneurysm that ruptured when I was in my choir class in my freshman year in high school. All I can recall that day was the biggest headache of my life. I was taken within hours to Driscoll Childrens Hospital in Corpus Christi, Tx, where I was taken care of for the month of March. My recovery was FAST. It was a miracle, was what the doctors called it. The only oddity was that when I awoke my first question was, 'where's dad and Demon (my cat)'. Of course my father had died a year before this happened and my cat seven years before my father. The anneurysm had really messed up my timeline. Now on 2008 my older cousin passed away due to a ruptured brain anneurysm, and months later a cousin of my mother suffered of the same thing, only that she survived. I think that while sometimes you can beat the odds, and other times you just can't; it's really all about the big picture, Gods plan and science.
December 10, 2011 - 7:09pmThis Comment