There are two types of stroke:

• Ischemic stroke (most common type) -- This type of stroke happens when blood is blocked from getting to the brain. This often happens because the artery is clogged with fatty deposits (arteriosclerosis) or a blood clot.
• Hemorrhagic stroke -- This type of stroke happens when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, and blood bleeds into the brain. This type of stroke can be caused by an aneurysm -- a thin or weak spot in an artery that balloons out and can burst.

The symptoms of a stroke depend on what part of the brain and how much of the brain tissue is affected.

• Stroke symptoms usually come on suddenly—in minutes to an hour.
• There is usually no pain associated with the symptoms.
• The symptoms may come and go, go away totally, or get worse over the course of several hours.
• If the symptoms go away completely in a short time (fewer than 24 hours), the episode is called a transient ischemic attack (TIA).
• A third of all strokes occur during sleep, so people first notice the symptoms when they wake up.
• These are the common symptoms of stroke:
• Weakness in the arm or leg or both on the same side: This can range from total paralysis to a very mild weakness. Complete numbness or a pins-and-needles feeling may be present on one side of your body or part of one side of your body.
• Weakness in the muscles of the face: Your face may droop or look lopsided. Speech may be slurred because you can't control the movement of your lips or tongue.
• Difficulty speaking: You can't speak, speech may be very slurred, or when you speak, the words sound fine but do not make sense.
• Coordination problems: You may seem uncoordinated and stumble or have difficulty walking or difficulty picking up objects.
• Dizziness: You may feel drunk or dizzy or have difficulty swallowing.
• Vision problems: You may develop difficulty with vision, such as double vision, loss of peripheral (side) vision, or blindness. (Blurred vision by itself is not usually a symptom of stroke.)
• Sudden headache: A sudden, severe headache may strike like "a bolt out of the blue." Some people have called this the worst headache of their lives.
• Loss of consciousness: You may become unconscious, stupor us, or hard to arouse and could die.

A stroke happens fast. Most people have two or more signs.

The most common signs are:

• Sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm, or leg (mainly on one side of the body)
• Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance
• Sudden confusion or trouble talking or understanding speech
• Sudden bad headache with no known cause

Women may have unique symptoms:

• Sudden face and arm or leg pain
• Sudden hiccups
• Sudden nausea (feeling sick to your stomach)
• Sudden tiredness
• Sudden chest pain
• Sudden shortness of breath (feeling like you can’t get enough air)
• Sudden pounding or racing heartbeat