1 in 8 Chance of a Warning Stroke
September 29, 2009 by Marijke Durning, RN
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
People who experience a stroke, or a CVA (cardiovascular accident) may have experienced a smaller warning stroke, or a TIA (transient ischemic attack), say researchers from the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada.
TIAs are strokes that last only a few minutes. The blood flow is blocked, as in a full-blown stroke, but then is restored. Symptoms of a TIA may range from very mild stroke-like symptoms to very severe ones. The researchers found that one of out every eight strokes followed an earlier TIA. The findings of the study were published in the September 29th issue of the medical journal Neurology.
The researchers looked at over 16,000 patients who had a stroke. Among them, 12.4% experienced a TIA before the stroke. Interestingly, people who did not have a TIA had more serious strokes than did the people who did have TIAs.
Those without TIAs were:
- more likely to die (15.2% compared with 12.7%)
- more likely to have a cardiac (heart) arrest (4.8% compared with 3.1%)
- less likely to return home after hospitalization (40.1% compared with 43.1%)
That being said, many people who had TIAs still had serious strokes afterwards. If you think you may have had a TIA, talk to your doctor as soon as possible. You may be able to prevent a more serious event.
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