While a person’s risk for having a stroke of any sort increases with age, even younger, healthy people need to take mini strokes seriously. A Stroke of any Magnitude Can Be Life-Altering According to the Alzheimer’s Association, screening for vascular dementia is recommended for all high risk individuals, including those who have had a stroke or a TIA and those who have risk factors for heart or blood vessel disease. In severe cases, vascular dementia may result from untreated cerebrovascular events.
Even if a major stroke is avoided, repeated mini strokes can have a cumulative negative effect on one’s brain health and cognitive function. This treatment is important for remedying current symptoms and preventing additional TIAs and strokes. After testing and risk assessment, patients typically receive a combination of drugs to lower cholesterol, control blood pressure and/or prevent clotting. Fortunately, the treatment for TIAs is relatively simple. Research has shown that people who receive treatment for a mini stroke within 24 hours of the onset of symptoms could decrease their risk for having a major stroke in the near future by up to 80 percent. If he had waited much longer, the blockage in his brain could have worsened, causing irreversible harm. Parsons’ doctor said that he was lucky he sought medical attention when he did. What Happens if a Mini Stroke Goes Untreated?Ī mini stroke may resolve on its own, but it’s difficult to know just how serious the circumstances are without a thorough medical workup.įamiliarizing yourself with these symptoms will allow you to act quickly, which is crucial for avoiding permanent brain damage. Another telltale sign of a stroke is when any of these symptoms occur on only one side of the body. The nurse explained that he was likely suffering from a stroke and needed to find someone to drive him to the emergency room immediately.Īnyone experiencing classic stroke symptoms like blurry vision, disorientation, sudden headache, slurred speech, and numbness and weakness in the face or extremities should always seek medical treatment as soon as possible. After 48 hours, he finally decided to contact the on-call nurse hotline provided by his health insurance company. Parsons’ leg gradually weakened further and his hand became increasingly unsteady. Brushing it off, he went to work and tried to ignore a slight weakness in his leg that produced an uncharacteristic limp when he walked. Joe Parsons, a mortgage advisor, was doing his daily crossword one morning at his home in California when he first noticed his writing was a bit sloppier than usual. Howard-Johnson’s subtle signs came and went within minutes, but in some people the symptoms linger a little longer. The experience was certainly odd, but she didn’t think much of it. Her primary complaints included slight dizziness and a temporary disruption in her reading comprehension. “It wasn’t that severe and it went away fast,” says Howard-Johnson of her TIA symptoms in the Himalayas. Most TIAs happen quickly and receive little attention, which makes them particularly dangerous.
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