Strokes and What to Expect

A Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack are similar but they have major differences. The symptoms Of the TIA are similar but the symptoms of a stroke are longer lasting.

The Transient Ischemic Attack also known as a TIA or mini stroke happens, when blood flow to the brain is interrupted for a few minutes. The symptoms can last from an hour and up to a day, but gradually fade and the patient totally recovers. A major stroke leaves lasting effects that leave the patient disabled in various degrees for the remainder of their lives.

When the stroke is occurring, there is no way to tell if it's a mini stroke or the major one it is imperative to get medical help as quickly as possible. So if you or someone you know suddenly experiences weakness on one side of the body, appear confused, have trouble speaking, and they do not seem to understand you and you know this is not 'normal behavior' for this person, call 911 immediately.

The Stroke Association web site has detailed graphics of the area in the brain the stroke effects. The web site also gives symptoms that are more detailed. These symptoms include as a sudden severe headache, or loss of balance along with the others I mentioned.

While you have the 911 operator on the line give, the symptoms as you see them, numbness, cannot lift hand, cannot focus etc. Emergency rescue can only come to help, if you give the operator details on what is happening. It is very important you get the patient help and they have a full evaluation within an hour of the first symptom of the stroke.

The stoke Association also states that most of the patients who experience a stroke do not have a mini stroke in their history. However, about a third of the people who have experience a mini stroke do experience a stroke within that first year.

In the emergency room, an electrocardiogram may be done to see the damage of the patient's heart. An ultrasound of the neck, CT scan or an MRI of the brain may be done to determine how bad the stroke is. A swallowing evaluation may occur to determine if the patient has any swallowing reflexes.

On the Discovery Health, website it is revealed that strokes are one of the top three major causes of death in this country. Each year 700,000 fatal strokes occur here in the United States, it is unclear how many TIA's occur that patients recover from completely. On this site, you can watch a video to learn what occurs during a stroke.

Resources:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tia/tia.htm

http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/AboutStroke/TypesofStroke/TIA/TIA-Transient-Ischemic-Attack_UCM_310942_Article.jsp

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/transientischemicattack.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_ischemic_attack