Are You at Risk for Aneurysm?

What’s so frightening about an aneurysm is how silently deadly they are. A blood vessel begins to swell and if it swells too much it will burst. This bursting is called an aneurysm which is often deadly. An aneurysm is usually caused by high blood pressure inside the walls of the blood vessel. Another common cause of aneurysm is called atherosclerosis. It’s a condition where a build up happens inside the blood vessel causing the vessel to weaken. Aneurysm can also be genetic.

Although an aneurysm can occur in most any blood vessel there are some aneurysm locations that are the most common. One is the cerebral artery or vein. This particular type of aneurysm is occurs more frequently in women than men, although the reasoning is unknown. Aneurysm can happen at any age. Although most cerebral aneurysm does not break open it can cause a stroke, or death, if it does. Usually the patient receives a warning sign in the form of an excruciating headache first.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm is another common type of aneurysm. This type of aneurysm is more common in men than women and happen even more frequently in people with heart disease. This silent but deadly ailment can build up over a period of many years with absolutely no warning signs.

Those who are at the greatest risk of aneurysm are people over the age of 60, those who smoke, men or women who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels, and those who have a family history of aneurysm. Since an aneurysm usually has no symptoms they can go unnoticed for quite some time. Many are located during testing for other ailments. X-rays, MRI’s and cat scans are responsible for sighting the aneurysm in most people.

Upon detection some aneurysms need no treatment. Follow-up testing and dietary changes can be all that’s required. For cerebral aneurysms, though, surgery is usually needed to repair the damaged vessel before it bursts. Other aneurysms which do not fall in the cerebral category are often repaired with less invasive techniques.

Some warning signs, found in only a fraction of those with aneurism are double vision, dilated pupils, pain above and behind the eye and headaches. If an aneurysm has burst some warning signs are extreme headache, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, blurred or doubled vision, sensitivity to light and loss of sensation in the extremities. To guard against aneurysm stop smoking, exercise regularly, take steps to lower your blood pressure and cholesterol and eat right, eliminating most fats from your diet.