My mother is 81 years old , she had a partial stroke about 10 years
ago , and now she had another which was termed "major stroke" the
medical report says the CT scan revealed no new bleeding in the brain
and the term "basal Ganglia" was mentioned in the report .What does
this mean , she is on medication now aspirin ,etc.will she be able to
recover if so how long

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Request for Question Clarification by digsalot-ga on 23 Aug 2002 13:46 PDT

In what way was basal ganglia mentioned in the report.  Was it
mentioned as being effected by the stroke or not effected.  I can't
imagine it being mentioned just in passing.  Knowing which would make
a difference in the answer given.

Because of your mother's age and history, I don't think any researcher
will attempt to address the part of the question as to whether she
will be able to recover.  There are just too many other variables
involved.  Is it possible? is one question, Will she? is another.  And
how long? different yet.  Actuarial tables vary widely depending on
age, health and health history.

First of all I am very sorry to hear of your mother's stroke. My
mother had a stroke about 2 years ago and it was very hard to see her
struggle. A ganglion (singular for ganglia)is a group of nerves that
are closely associated with one another to send messages to a
particular part of the body. The term basal means the ganglia they are
talking about are found in the brain or spinal cord. My guess is that
they were discussing the stroke's affects on the various ganglia in
your mother's brain.
Her chances of recovery depend largely on how severe the stroke was,
the amount of damage that was done to her brain, how soon treatment
was given to your mother, the age of your mother, her health and her
determination. There is no way of telling for sure how she will do. I
will however be thinking and praying for your mother and you during
this very stressful time.
I hope that helps.
neal-ga

It may help you a little more to learn a little about what the basal
ganglia actually is. - "What are the basal ganglia? The name is
confusing, as generally a ganglion is a collection of cell bodies
outside the central nervous system. Blame the early anatomists. The
basal ganglia are a collection of nuclei deep to the white matter of
cerebral cortex. The name includes: caudate, putamen, nucleus
accumbens, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, subthalamic nucleus, and
historically the claustrum and the amygdala."  There are further notes
on the claustrum and amygdala here also. - The webpage is "Basal
Ganglia and Cerebellum" from Washington University School of Medicine
Neuroscience Tutorial - (
http://thalamus.wustl.edu/course/cerebell.html )

As you can see, the term "basal ganglia" is quite different than just
the extention of the words ganglia and basal to mean a grouping of
nerves in the brain or spinal cord.  The basal ganglia is a specific
object and a specific location in the brain.

Since you gave no clarification as to how the term was used in the
medical report about your mother, I will give you some reasons why it
is important to a stroke victim and the care giver.

The basal ganglia deals with movement. - "The output of the cerebellum
is excitatory, while the basal ganglia are inhibitory. The balance
between these two systems allows for smooth, coordinated movement, and
a disturbance in either system will show up as movement disorders." -
Quote from Washington University School of Medicine Neuroscience
Tutorial webpage listed above.

Damage to the basal ganglia can cause Parkinson's type movements or
even the flailing of an arm or leg which is the direct result of
stroke damage to the area.

The basal ganglia is also a setting for strokes in its own right as
can be seen in this article "'Silent stroke' linked to depression"
from the American Heart Association. (
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1999-09/AHA-sltd-290999.php ) 
This is a website known as EurekAlert and pages have a habit if
vanishing after a short time.  So if there is anything in this article
you want to keep, please save it.

I hope the mention of the basal ganglia in your mother's medical
report was that it was not involved.  But either way you now have some
basis for knowing what the relationship between the basal ganglia and
a stroke might be.

I join with nealc-ga in wishing the best for you and your mother.

digsalot

You might want to look at these sites.  They're about strokes in general.

NINDS Stroke Information Page
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/stroke.htm

Stroke: Prevention and Treatment
http://www.nia.nih.gov/health/agepages/stroke.htm

MEDLINEplus Medical Encyclopedia: Stroke
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000726.htm

There is also a support group that you can contact:
American Stroke Association
A Division of the American Heart Association
7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75231
http://www.strokeassociation.org
Toll free phoneline for stroke survivors and caregivers: 1-888-4STROKE 

I hope that helps and I'm sorry to hear about your mother.

luciaphile-ga