Actor Emilia Clarke recently stunned fans by revealing how she almost died of a pair of brain aneurysms and a bleeding stroke in a story for The New Yorker. Her medical emergency struck shortly after she finished filming the first season of “Game of Thrones” in 2011, when she was 24.
It was incredibly helpful to have Game of Thrones sweep me up and give me that purpose.” Clarke suffered in first aneurysm in 2011 between seasons of the HBO show and the second in 2013, both of which required lengthy recovery periods in order to address the brain damage.
In a recent interview, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke spoke about being able to live “completely normally” after two aneurysms – one in 2011 and one in 2013 – that caused brain injury. She went on to have two brain surgeries.
They are most common in adults between the ages of 30 and 60 and are more common in women than in men. People with certain inherited disorders are also at higher risk. Sometimes cerebral aneurysms are the result of inherited risk factors, including: genetic connective tissue disorders that weaken artery walls.
The 37-year-old actor was awarded an MBE on Wednesday (21 February) alongside her mother Jenny as co-founders of SameYou, a brain injury recovery charity they established after the Clarke survived two brain haemorrhages. Clarke had her first brain haemorrhage in 2011, shortly after the first Game of Throne's season.
Just as the eighth and final season of the show was set to begin, Emilia's personal essay about suffering through and surviving two brain aneurysms was published in The New Yorkermagazine. The actor's story raises awareness of a life-threatening condition that affects about 6 million Americans.
What Clarke suffered for the first time in 2011, and then again in 2013, was a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), which refers to bleeding in the space between the skull and the brain. An SAH is a type of hemorrhagic stroke, and Clarke's bleeding was caused by cerebral aneurysms (brain aneurysms) that burst.
visual disturbances, such as loss of vision or double vision. pain above or around your eye. numbness or weakness on 1 side of your face. difficulty speaking.
A sudden, severe headache is the key symptom of a ruptured aneurysm. This headache is often described by people as the worst headache they've ever experienced. In addition to a severe headache, symptoms of a ruptured aneurysm can include: Nausea and vomiting.
Emilia doesn't see herself raising her kids in Hollywood, despite her success in the movie business. The brunette beauty would prefer to raise her children in the English countryside. She said: "I grew up with ducks in the garden and a stream. We used to go mushroom picking in the fields.
You can't prevent or change certain brain aneurysm risk factors, like your age or genetic conditions. But you can lower your risk of developing a brain aneurysm by: Maintaining healthy blood pressure with medications and/or lifestyle changes. Not smoking or quitting smoking.
The Lisa Foundation notes that it may take 3–6 weeks to recover fully from a brain aneurysm. However, people may feel fatigued for 12 weeks or more. Recovery can be different for each person. A person may experience minor or major physical, cognitive, and emotional changes.
It will take 3 to 6 weeks to fully recover. If you had bleeding from your aneurysm this may take longer. You may feel tired for up to 12 or more weeks. If you had a stroke or brain injury from the bleeding, you may have permanent problems such as trouble with speech or thinking, muscle weakness, or numbness.
Smoking and high blood pressure are the things that put you at the most risk of having a brain aneurysm. But several other things in your medical history also raise your odds. Diseases affecting your blood or blood vessels: Connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
Not surprisingly, physical fitness may lower the risk of hemorrhage. Although previously suggested in other observational studies, it appears that sleep deprivation, insomnia, or sleep apnea, poses an increased risk of aneurysm rupture. In fact, insomnia is associated with a 24% increased risk.
Aneurysms and stroke are not the same, but a ruptured aneurysm can lead to a hemorrhagic stroke and bleeding in or around the brain. Symptoms of an aneurysm that has burst or is likely to burst include a thunderclap headache. This is also a sign of a hemorrhagic stroke.
Aortic aneurysms typically do not shrink or heal on their own. Medical intervention, lifestyle modifications and regular monitoring are essential to manage and prevent further growth.
How long can you have an aneurysm before it ruptures?
Some cerebral aneurysms may start to leak before they rupture, causing a sudden severe headache. This symptom, also called a sentinel headache, is a warning sign of a major rupture. Many patients report a sentinel headache six to 20 days before a rupture.
Emilia also had to have a second procedure in 2013 where surgeons in New York had to remove a brain aneurysm which was found through routine check-ups.
The diagnosis was quick and ominous: a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), a life-threatening type of stroke, caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain. I'd had an aneurysm, an arterial rupture. As I later learned, about a third of SAH patients die immediately or soon thereafter.
