2024-08-15 00:05:41
The case of Willi Lemke shows that a brain hemorrhage can be life-threatening. What warning signs can occur and what happens in the brain.
Former Bundesliga manager Willi Lemke has died. The long-time politician and sports official died as a result of a brain hemorrhage, as his family announced (read more about this here). The exact cause of the hemorrhage is not known. But how does the disease manifest itself? And who is in the risk group?
The human brain is protected by the skull, but this also means it has limited space: if bleeding occurs inside the skull, the blood cannot spread due to the lack of space, which is why the pressure on the brain tissue increases quickly – and this can have life-threatening consequences.
A brain hemorrhage occurs when a blood vessel within the skull ruptures, bursts or is injured. There are many causes of brain hemorrhage. A traumatic brain injury after a serious fall on the head, for example, can injure blood vessels in the brain and cause bleeding. But it can also occur if blood clotting is impaired or the blood vessels in the brain are damaged – for example due to arteriosclerosis. A ruptured brain aneurysm (a bulge in an artery in or near the brain) is often the cause of bleeding.
And special blood-thinning medications can also be considered as possible triggers of a brain hemorrhage. High blood pressure is particularly common in causing brain hemorrhages, as prolonged increased pressure damages the blood vessel walls. If the strain is too great, these can suddenly burst. Sufferers of diabetes and obesity, as well as people who frequently and regularly consume alcohol and nicotine, are therefore at increased risk.
The dangerous thing: A brain hemorrhage usually goes unnoticed – until very severe pain suddenly occurs. Typically, there is an abrupt outbreak of symptoms from a state of complete well-being. These include:
Additionally, nausea, vomiting and chest pain may occur.
A brain hemorrhage is not visible from the outside. Imaging procedures such as computer tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are therefore necessary to determine the bleeding in the brain and its severity. The patient is usually treated in a neurosurgical intensive care unit in the hospital. There, experts can observe the bleeding, determine changes in size and, if necessary, initiate an appropriate operation or other measures.