Donald Glover’s report draws attention to silent conditions, symptoms that go unnoticed, and risk factors
summary
Actor Donald Glover suffered a stroke after the show, revealing he had a “hole in his heart”. This case highlights the dangers of silent conditions and the importance of recognizing warning signs for prevention.
An actor with a ‘hole in his heart’ suffers a stroke after a show; Learn how to recognize the warning signs:
What happened to actor, musician and comedian Donald Glover, 42, is a warning that strokes can happen silently. He, also known as Childish Gambino, discovered he had a stroke hours after suffering a severe headache during a concert in September 2024. He made the revelation last week. During scans, he was also diagnosed with a “hole in the heart,” a condition called foramen ovale palpable.
According to neurologist and neurosurgeon Alexandre Amaral, a stroke can occur in two ways:
- By blockage of a blood vessel called ischemic,
- Or by rupture of a blood vessel, which is known as a hemorrhage.
Both can appear with different degrees of severity, he explains.
He added: “These are small vascular events that occur silently, on a daily basis, without the person noticing them. These attacks accumulate over time, until, at a certain point, a large area of the brain is exposed.”
A “hole in the heart” may be the cause of a stroke
Neurologist Flavio Salem, from Hospital Gabones Santa Cruz, draws attention to the types of stroke injuries. In general, those in the back of the brain, especially the right side, as happened with Donald Glover, can be silent.
He adds: “Often, a patient does not discover that he has a stroke until he undergoes a CT scan for another reason.”
For younger patients without obvious risk factors, one possible cause of stroke is a patent foramen ovale (“the hole in the heart”), according to Salem. It is an opening between the chambers of the heart that allows blood to flow abnormally from one side to the other.
“In cases of physical exertion, this flow can carry small clots to the brain, causing a stroke. This mechanism is called paradoxical embolism,” he explained, also noting that this may be Glover’s case.
Key warning signs
Although silent in some cases, the main warning sign of a stroke is a severe headache, which is different from usual and which does not improve with pain relievers. Other symptoms include blurred vision, difficulty speaking, mental confusion, loss of strength in the arms or legs, dizziness, and lack of balance and asymmetry in the face.
“These signs show that important areas of the brain, responsible for speech, vision, movement and balance, are affected,” Amaral explained.
Ischemic stroke is the most common
According to Salem, about 85% of strokes are due to blockage of ischemic blood vessels, while 15% of them are hemorrhagic due to bleeding in the brain. They can only be distinguished through imaging tests, such as a CT scan of the skull.
protection
Doctors stress that although there is a cure, prevention remains the main means of combating the disease. Keeping blood pressure under control, treating diabetes, being physically active, avoiding cigarettes, adopting a balanced diet and performing regular medical monitoring are essential measures.
“The big problem is that once damage to the nervous system occurs, it is often not possible to completely reverse it. Therefore, the best strategy is to prevent a stroke,” Alexander explained.
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