Who is more likely to have a brain haemorrhage?

Each year there are 4.6 million cases of brain haemorrhage, with only 3 out 5 people surviving at one month, resulting in 3 million deaths. These are devastating statistics, but yet, unfortunately, they haven’t changed in over 40 years, so it vital we better understand brain haemorrhage, what causes them, who is more likely to have them and how we can prevent them.

The Natalie Kate Moss Trust is on a mission to better prevent and treat brain haemorrhages. To find out more about our work click here.

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What is a Brain Haemorrhage?

A brain haemorrhage is when an artery in the brain bursts and causes bleeding in the tissues in the brain which kills brain cells. This ultimately can be life threatening or cause permanent brain damage. The severity and outcome of a brain bleed depend on its cause, location inside of your skull, size of the bleed, the amount of time that passes between the bleed and treatment. Once brain cells die, they don’t come back. 

Therefore it is critical to act fast if you think someone is having a brain haemorrhage but also to understand the risk factors of potentially having a brain haemorrhage and how to prevent one.

Brain bleeds can happen for a number of reasons, such as:

• If someone has a weak spot in a blood vessel wall (this is known as an aneurysm) or if they have damaged or tangled blood vessels (this is known as arteriovenuous malformation, or AVM). To read more about causes of brain haemorrhage click here.

• If someone has high blood pressure.

• After a head trauma

• A brain tumour

A brain bleed can affect anyone at any age, but it’s more common among adults over age 45. You may be more at risk of a brain bleed if you have high blood pressure (hypertension).

There are some things you can do to reduce your risk of a brain haemorrhage.

• Check and manage your blood pressure

• Stop smoking

• Stop drinking alcohol

• Participate in regular exercise

• Eat a healthy, balanced diet

• Maintain a healthy body weight

• Manage stress

• Get adequate amount of sleep

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To read more about whether you can survive a Brain Haemorrhage click here.

To read if Brain Haemorrhages are hereditary click here.