Chinese President Xi Jinping is suffering from brain aneurysm
Highlights
- Brain aneurysms are undetected till the time they rupture and bleed out
- Experts have said that the main cause of cerebral aneurysm is smoking and high blood pressure
- Brain aneurysm can occur in anyone irrespective of age
Chinese President Xi Jinping is suffering from cerebral aneurysm and had to be hospitalised at the end of 2021, media reports have said. It is learnt that he preferred to be treated with traditional Chinese medicines rather than going for surgery, which softens the blood vessels and shrinks aneurysm. Of late, there have been speculations about Xi's health as he had avoided meeting the foreign leaders since the outbreak of COVID-19 and now these reports have surfaced on his health and caught people's attention.
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What is cerebral aneurysm?
According to Hopkins Medicine, a brain aneurysm (also called a cerebral aneurysm or an intracranial aneurysm) is a ballooning arising from a weakened area in the wall of a blood vessel in the brain. If the brain aneurysm expands and the blood vessel wall becomes too thin, the aneurysm will rupture and bleed into the space around the brain. This event is called a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) and may cause a hemorrhagic (bleeding) stroke. Rupturing brain aneurysm and SAH are life-threatening events.
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Symptoms of unruptured brain aneurysm
-- Headaches (rare, if unruptured)
--Eye pain
-- Vision changes
-- Diminished eye movement
Symptoms of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)
-- Rapid onset of "worst headache of my life"
-- Stiff neck
-- Nausea and vomiting
-- Changes in mental status, such as drowsiness
-- Pain in specific areas, such as the eyes
-- Dilated pupils
-- Loss of consciousness
-- Loss of balance or coordination
-- Sensitivity to light
-- Back or leg pain
-- Problems with certain functions of the eyes, nose, tongue, and/or ears that are controlled by one or more of the 12 cranial nerves
-- Coma and death
Brain aneurysm treatment
A brain aneurysm is often discovered after it has ruptured or by chance during diagnostic exam, such as computed tomography (CT scan), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or angiography that are being done for other reasons. It is treated depending on the location and size of the aneurysm and whether or not it has ruptured, as well as the individual patient’s needs. The various methods for its treatment are:
-- Microsurgical clipping
-- Endovascular coiling
-- Flow diversion with stents
-- Artery occlusion and bypass
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