At Mayo Clinic, we take the time to listen, to find answers and to provide you the best care.
A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is like a stroke, producing similar symptoms, but usually lasting only a few minutes and causing no permanent damage.
Often called a ministroke, a transient ischemic attack may be a warning. About 1 in 3 people who have a transient ischemic attack will eventually have a stroke, with about half occurring within a year after the transient ischemic attack.
A transient ischemic attack can serve as both a warning and an opportunity — a warning of an impending stroke and an opportunity to take steps to prevent it.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com
Transient ischemic attacks usually last a few minutes. Most signs and symptoms disappear within an hour. The signs and symptoms of TIA resemble those found early in a stroke and may include sudden onset of:
You may have more than one TIA, and the recurrent signs and symptoms may be similar or different depending on which area of the brain is involved.
Seek immediate medical attention if you suspect you've had a transient ischemic attack. Prompt evaluation and identification of potentially treatable conditions may help you prevent a stroke.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com
A transient ischemic attack has the same origins as that of an ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke. In an ischemic stroke, a clot blocks the blood supply to part of your brain. In a transient ischemic attack, unlike a stroke, the blockage is brief, and there is no permanent damage.
The underlying cause of a TIA often is a buildup of cholesterol-containing fatty deposits called plaques (atherosclerosis) in an artery or one of its branches that supplies oxygen and nutrients to your brain.
Plaques can decrease the blood flow through an artery or lead to the development of a clot. A blood clot moving to an artery that supplies your brain from another part of your body, most commonly from your heart, also may cause a TIA.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com
At Mayo Clinic, we take the time to listen, to find answers and to provide you the best care.
Because a transient ischemic attack is short-lived, your doctor may diagnose a TIA based just on the medical history of the event rather than on anything found during a general physical and neurological examination. To help determine the cause of your TIA and to assess your risk of stroke, your doctor may rely on the following:
Physical examination and tests. Your doctor may check for risk factors of stroke, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes and high levels of the amino acid homocysteine.
Your doctor may also use a stethoscope to listen for a whooshing sound (bruit) over your arteries that may indicate atherosclerosis. Or your doctor may observe cholesterol fragments or platelet fragments (emboli) in the tiny blood vessels of your retina at the back of your eye during an eye examination using an ophthalmoscope.
Echocardiography. Your doctor may choose to perform a transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) or transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE). A TTE involves moving an instrument called a transducer across your chest. The transducer emits sound waves that echo off of different parts of your heart, creating an ultrasound image.
During a TEE, a flexible probe with a transducer built into it is placed in your esophagus — the tube that connects the back of your mouth to your stomach. Because your esophagus is directly behind your heart, clearer, detailed ultrasound images can be created. This allows a better view of some things, such as blood clots, that might not be seen clearly in a traditional echocardiography exam.
Arteriography. This procedure gives a view of arteries in your brain not normally seen in X-ray imaging. A radiologist inserts a thin, flexible tube (catheter) through a small incision, usually in your groin.
The catheter is manipulated through your major arteries and into your carotid or vertebral artery. Then the radiologist injects a dye through the catheter to provide X-ray images of the arteries in your brain. This procedure may be used in selected cases.
Physical examination and tests. Your doctor may check for risk factors of stroke, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes and high levels of the amino acid homocysteine.
Your doctor may also use a stethoscope to listen for a whooshing sound (bruit) over your arteries that may indicate atherosclerosis. Or your doctor may observe cholesterol fragments or platelet fragments (emboli) in the tiny blood vessels of your retina at the back of your eye during an eye examination using an ophthalmoscope.
Echocardiography. Your doctor may choose to perform a transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) or transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE). A TTE involves moving an instrument called a transducer across your chest. The transducer emits sound waves that echo off of different parts of your heart, creating an ultrasound image.
During a TEE, a flexible probe with a transducer built into it is placed in your esophagus — the tube that connects the back of your mouth to your stomach. Because your esophagus is directly behind your heart, clearer, detailed ultrasound images can be created. This allows a better view of some things, such as blood clots, that might not be seen clearly in a traditional echocardiography exam.
Arteriography. This procedure gives a view of arteries in your brain not normally seen in X-ray imaging. A radiologist inserts a thin, flexible tube (catheter) through a small incision, usually in your groin.
The catheter is manipulated through your major arteries and into your carotid or vertebral artery. Then the radiologist injects a dye through the catheter to provide X-ray images of the arteries in your brain. This procedure may be used in selected cases.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com
Knowing your risk factors and living healthfully are the best things you can do to prevent a TIA. Included in a healthy lifestyle are regular medical checkups. Also:
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com
Some risk factors for transient ischemic attack and stroke can't be changed. Others you can control.
You can't change the following risk factors for transient ischemic attack and stroke. But knowing you're at risk can motivate you to change your lifestyle to reduce other risks.
You can control or treat a number of factors — including certain health conditions and lifestyle choices — that increase your risk of stroke. Having one or more of these risk factors doesn’t mean you’ll have a stroke, but your risk particularly increases if you have two or more of them.
Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com
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