Stroke

[goose63]

A lot of you guys are up there in the years like me I had one 6 years ago the V A told me had I been getting my 6 month check with ultrasound's thy would of could of found it in time mine was just a real small one so guys get one thy don't hurt or cost a lot 

[beenthere]

A lot of you guys are up there in the years like me

Meaning what age?

My Dr. doesn't do any ultrasounds, so am not sure what you are referring to here.

What symptoms were present to lead up to your Dr. saying you should get 6 mo. check with ultrasounds?

And what is an ultrasound, in this case?

[Farmerjw]

This ultrasound, is it the heart check for the valve behind your heart that a regular test really doesn't tell them about? 

[doctorb]

They also ultrasound the carotid artery in the neck to check for narrowing.  Plaques can then migrate to the brain and cause strokes can originate there.   Usually your doc listens to the carotid arteries in your neck, checking for turbulance in the blood flow (called bruits).  If he hears them, then the artery may be narrowed and you may be at risk for stroke.

[goose63]

My fault I forgot to say it was on my neck was 57 when it happened to me was having dizzy spells just put it off then one morning got out of bed hit the floor kid took me to the v a found out the right side was 100% blocked I am 63 doing ok you would not I had one just saying get the ultrasound on your neck make sure you are getting the blood to the thinker     

[beenthere]

doctorb
Any idea what frequency is the sensing transducer used to pick up a blocked carotid artery?

Must be in the ultrasonic bandwidth, so am wondering what my Dr. is listening for when using just his stethoscope. Maybe just any turbulance he would hear then warrants further listening with the ultrasonic transducer.

My father had carotid artery blockage but went through about 10 years of dizzy spells (started at about 58) and numerous tests to try to learn why he was so dizzy. About 5 years after he retired he was visiting a GP in Jonesboro, AR. During the checkup he mentioned to the Dr. he had a lot of dizzy spells. Dr. asked him if he had his carotid arteries checked and said no.
One was nearly blocked completely and the other 100% blocked. In those 10 years, no one checked what seemingly would be the most obvious. He was fine after the blockage was removed (which took awhile as the arteries were in bad shape) and went on to live another 20 years to age 91.

[doctorb]

beenthere-

The direct answer to your query is "No, I don't know the frequency of the ultrasound."  But understand that this modality is exactly like the one used for checking a baby within the uterus before birth.  The ultrasound can easily visually demonstrate the difference between fluid (blood) and the surrounding artery and soft tissue.  It can visualize the actual percent of blockage.  So the ultrasound is a picture of what's dynamically happening with regards to blood flow.  The stethoscope picks up auditory turbulence and is the standard physical diagnostic screening test.  Narrowing of the artery causes the audible turbulence, just like a stream that narrows gets more turbulent.  You are right, anyone with audible bruits in their carotid arteries should get further investigations, usually starting with the non-invasive ultrasound.

[beenthere]

doc
Got it. They are sending a signal and getting an echo back.

thanks for clearing that up for me.... I was thinking they maybe just listening to the bruit, not getting a picture of it. ;)

Apply that to a tree and pinpoint the bugs in there chewing away, or how much decay is in there.

[doctorb]

Can you get enough uniform echoes from a tree with ultrasound to differentiate decay and pests???

[beenthere]

Decay more likely than pests.

[coxy]

my dad has had all this happen to him    no stroke thank god     his is 75% blocked took 9 months to get the darn doc to give him the operation    he goes in on September 30 hope all goes good     my have to watch him that he don't start acting like a pig  :D    :laugh:

[bama20a]

I posted awhile back,https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,68924.0.html,
Then got to reading this post,They did the ultrasound on my chest,But not my neck, As I said I also get light headed,(dizzy).& at times a knot will come up on the side of my neck.(Did'nt tell the Dr that) :-\,I'm going in the morning for a breathing test, Think I should request the ultrasound on my neck? To morrow will be 1 month that I've been going back & forth to them & I'm still not one bit better. Mark,,,,,