Health & Fitness
What's a Mini Stroke and why do 500,000 Americans have them per year?
The Journal of Expert Review and Neurotherapeutics help us understand the signs of mini strokes and how they often lead to the real thing.
Mini Stroke?
Each year 500,000 Americans experience mini strokes called transient ischemic attacks (TIAs). Symptoms usually go away within an hour, but 10-15% of people who experience TIAs will experience full-blown strokes within 3 months, and 40% of these strokes will occur within the first 24 hours! A TIA is caused by a temporary blockage, typically a blood clot, in a blood vessel in the brain. Symptoms are similar to a stroke and include numbness or paralysis on one side of the body, vision changes, trouble speaking, difficulty with balance or walking, and sudden severe headache.
Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, February 2013
Heart disease and cardio-vascular disease are serious problems. It affects so many Americans primarily because of high fat diets and sedentary lifestyles. As suggested by this research, a mini stroke is no mini matter. This is often just a precursor to the real thing. Make sure to eat a healthy diet, get plenty of exercise and arm yourself with the knowledge of what ministrokes are and how to recognize them and you just may save your life or the life of another.