hi, thanks for writing to HCM, stroke by definition is loss of some localised part of brain due to ischaemia (lack of blood into brain cells)or haemorraghe (leakage of blood from the brain arteries or vessels thus blood could not reach upto brain cells). common factors that can develop into stroke are commonly - high bp, high lipids (cholestrol levels), smoking, tobacco chewing etc. features that can be seen in the patient are hemiparesis (sudden weakness or loss of function of half side of the body) or some times only one arm or leg. loss of sensation on that part (unable to feel touch and hot or cold) there may be involvement of speech, vision,memory, and face paralysis also. If the symptoms appear and fortunately return to almost normal within 24 hours then it is called a transient ishchaemic attack ...TIA (this literally means temporary loss of blood to brain cells). but if the symptoms stay for more than 24 hours and doesn t improve it is a STROKE. In both cases of TIA & Stroke prompt treatment is required to lessen the impact on brain cells. In the treatment of STROKE a multidisciplinary approach is required....this means that the patient must be treated by a no. of specialist like neurologist, neurosurgeon, physical therapist, speech therapist, opthalmologist, occupational therapist, nursing care etc. the recovery of patient will definitely depend on the extent of brain involvement and other associated features age of patient, any other medical problem. a multifaceted treatment can bring the patient back to normal life. the family and the caregiver should be extremely patient, supportive, and caring towards the patient and should trust the doctors treating the patient. i would also like to mention here after reading the comments below that heat stroke is entirely different from this stroke. and aging is not a cause of stroke, it just makes few individuals more prone to get stroke. i hope this helps