The human brain starts to run out of oxygen about an hour after a stroke, according to new research.
The findings have implications for the prevention of strokes and stroke survivors.
In the study, researchers analyzed data from nearly 9,000 patients who underwent a stroke.
After five years, the researchers found that oxygen levels in the brain dropped to levels that were below the threshold needed for the brain to continue functioning.
At that point, the brain is incapable of maintaining consciousness.
However, it could continue to operate as a functioning brain.
For example, people can continue to use a device to read and write, according the study.
The study was published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry.
Dr. Stephen Wong, the study’s lead author and a neurologist at the University of Michigan, said the findings are important because the brain has been known to become less efficient with age.
He said the brain’s oxygen needs to be balanced with the demands of maintaining cognition and memory.
“When you have a stroke you may have the capacity to recover in two or three years but then you’re still going to have to deal with these challenges of maintaining function in the future,” Dr. Wong said.
“The brain is very efficient, but it is a finite resource.”
Dr Wong said the new findings show that it’s important to monitor people at the time of a stroke to see if they are taking oxygen to keep them conscious.
He said the study is one of many that are trying to understand the mechanisms that are responsible for the onset of a neurodegenerative disease.
One of the key components that is very relevant to stroke survivors is that we’re in a state of transition from a pre-stroke condition to a post-stroke state,” Dr Wong said in a news release.
In the new study, the scientists also found that a person who suffered a stroke before age 30 had a higher risk of developing dementia and a lower risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than a person in their 40s.