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Ischemic Stroke Of A Patient With Hypercholesterolemia 1

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Running head: ISCHEMIC STROKE IN A PATIENT WITH HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA 1
Ischemic Stroke in a Patient with Hypercholesterolemia
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ISCHEMIC STROKE IN PATIENT WITH HYPERCHOLESTEROLEMIA 2
Ischemic Stroke in a Patient with Hypercholesterolemia
A 63-year-old woman presents to the emergency room with numbness on her left side, difficulty walking, and clumsiness with her left hand. She has had hypercholesterolemia for the past 15 years but recently discontinued her medication because she could not afford it. The patient also reports a brief episode of paresthesia in her left arm three days prior. Upon examination, the woman has normal language and memory skills. She has no left-sided neglect and her vision is normal. She also has normal superficial reflexes including corneal reflex and plantar reflex. She has sensory loss over her left hemibody and left side ataxia as well in fingerto- nose and heel-to-shin testing.
Based on her presentation, the patient appears to have suffered from an ischemic stroke.
According to the American Heart Association, ischemic stroke accounts for 87% of all strokes
(Mozaffarian et al., 2015). Ischemic strokes are caused by a blood clot (thrombus or embolus) in an artery leading to the brain, blocking blood flow to certain regions. She exhibits the following symptoms of stroke according to the NIH Stroke Scale: left-side sensory loss, pronator drift, ataxia, and hemiparesis. She does not, however, exhibit aphasia or facial palsy,

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