QUOTE:" rencently we have been informed he has cardiovascular disease.. and his syptoms will go worse..."
To provide a perspective: The most common type of stroke is an ischemic (occluded vessels due to CAD) stroke, which happens when a blood clot blocks a vessel and deprives brain cells of oxygen and vital nutrients.
It is true, the second major kind of stroke is a hemorrhagic stroke, a “brain bleed” that results when a vessel bursts. That usually results from high blood pressure, and hopefully your father's doctor can differentiate and control the high blood pressure, etc.
However, your doctor indicated the underlying cause is CAD. CAD is a syndrome that almost always has occluded vessels and/or soft plaque within the lining of the arteries at with that condition there is a high risk of heart attack or stroke. The soft plaque breaks through lining into the vessle channel (lumen) and sometimes the hard plaque within the lumen breaks away causing heart attacks or stroke.
Sometimes a clot occurs within the left upper chamber and that clot can cause heart attack or stroke....but that isn't considered CAD..
About 2 years ago, I was given a CT scan test for an appraisel of the anatomy of major coronary vessels. The CT scan test provides a numerical score of the soft plaque within the lining of the vessel and my score was over 1000 total. That score indicated I may have a major heart event within a year...a cross reference of the score indicates there is 20% probability each year. I have never felt better for the last 7 years since I had a heart attack so for any doctor to make a prediction does nothing but cause unnecessary anxiety for some people. I wasn't completely written off with congested heart failure, but close as one can be.
Sometimes statements can be made that cause unnecessary anxiety and your father's doctor does not have a inside information to predict life or death. For a better understanding of your father's health you may want to ask the doctor what the underlying cause for CAD. If you have any follow-up questions or comments you are welcome to respond. If and when you have additional information regarding CAD,and what is doctor's basis that CAD will get worse? It would be interesting to hear from you again. Take care..
Sleepwell just for clarification a stroke is not necessarily caused by a blood clot as i am hopeful your doctors have told you...cardiovascular disease and strokes come from many different scenarios.....a couple are it could be a narrowing of his arteries, uncontrolled high blood pressure causing a bleed in the brain, hardening of the arteries, an embolism...... it could be just about anything and again i would make out your list for the doctors to answer all of your questions.....
Your father apparently has some short-term memory loss and some concentration impairment but cognitative abilities remain intact going on 8 weeks. Now, your father has had a stroke due to cardiovascular disease.
It is not unusual for someone in their 80's to have some short-term memory loss, low concentration level, etc, but unimpaired cognitative ability is a good sign That probably can rule out Alzheimer's or possibly early signs only....Aricept medication can slow the progression Alzheimer's and your father can be around for several more years. Or the mental problem could be senility associated with age and left untreated.
If I understand, your father recently had a stroke and the underlying cause is cardiovascular disease and resulted in a stroke. That occurs when a blood clot is dislodge in the vessel and with blood flow goes to the brain and blocks a segment of the brain to blood supply. The result can minor with very little impairment or serious causing a loss of mobility and speech.
The treatment for treating cardiovascular disease lacks the ability to reverse CAD but it can slow down the process with cholesterol medication, etc. Also, there is medication that can treat blood clots and help prevent blood clots.
Your father is not in any critical stage of life or death, but if there are concomitant health issues (depending on seriousness, etc.), that would be another factor to consider.
Hope this puts the matter in perspective and your father gets better, and thank you for sharing. If you have any further questions or comments, you are welcome to respond. take care.
I think that with good medical care and supervision and the right treatment plan your dad will get the best chance possible at a recovery depending on what his docs say. What you have described is pretty textbook with people who have had strokes and at 80 years old sounds like he has already beat the odds in terms on living a longer life then most people do so at the end of the day i think it will depend on his body, his system and again the care he receives. I think that there is a danger of death for each and every one of us every single day...we just don't know how and we don't know when. Stroke depending on the severity of it can be a single incident or he may be in a situ where he may have another one however at eight weeks out since the last one and no further incidents to me that is a very good sign and i am sure that the doctors have him on the right medication to safeguard him from having another .....its great that you and your family are going to meet with the doctors soon so that all of your questions can be answered. The hospital is the best place possible for him right now so that they can monitor him 24/7 which is another safety net for him....i wish you and your family good luck w. your dad and remember to write down all of your questions that you have to read them off to the doc during your consult with him/her so that you don't forget anything.....