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First to speak was Associate Professor Harrison Weisenberger, director of professional services for Specsavers Australia and New Zealand. As well as a registered optometrist, Professor Weisenberger has experience as a medical practitioner in accident and emergency, as well as neurophysiology. He focused on stroke and the visual system and began by defining stroke as a central nervous system infarction. Ischaemia is an interruption of normal blood supply and infarction is the irreversible damage that occurs as a result of ischaemia. A transient ischaemic attack (TIA) is, by definition, temporary and does not result in infarction. Stroke may be caused by intrinsic blood vessel damage within the brain (atherosclerosis, inflammation and so on), remote process (such as an embolus from the heart valves), reduced blood flow (as with hyperviscosity conditions) or blood vessel rupture. Ultimately, however, the result is either ischaemic (with insufficient blood reaching an area) or haemorrhagic (with bleeding into the affected area).
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