To understand the meaning of mild stroke, or transient ischemic attack (TIA), you must first understand the meaning of the word ischemia.
A healthy brain requires a constant and rich supply of oxygen and blood to each of about 100 billion neurons. To achieve this, and to ensure normal brain function, blood flows to several blood vessels in every part of the brain.
In some people, blood vessels become blocked due to blood clots, or cholesterol plaques, temporarily interrupting the blood supply to parts of the brain. The lack of oxygen and nutrients in this section is known as ischemia. The neurons in the ischemic part become hungry and quickly stop functioning.
What is a mild stroke or transient ischemic attack?
Mild stroke, as stated previously also known as transient ischemic attack, is a short period of lack of blood flow to parts of the brain. Because ischemia damages the function of brain cells, sufferers of transient ischemic attacks experience symptoms of brain dysfunction, such as difficulty speaking or moving their arms and legs on one side of their body. The symptoms of a transient ischemic attack can last from a few minutes to several hours, but by definition, they will disappear in less than 24 hours.
20% of people who experience symptoms of transient ischemic attacks will continue to experience major strokes in the next three months. Unfortunately, many people fail to seek medical help and suffer strokes before they are examined by a doctor.
What are the symptoms of a mild stroke?
Symptoms of a mild stroke begin suddenly and vary depending on the part of the brain affected. Mild strokes that affect the part of the brain that is used minimally in daily functions cause mild or real symptoms. Conversely, mild strokes that affect the part of the brain that is used optimally for daily functions cause symptoms that can be very debilitating.
For example, people who suffer from minor strokes in parts of the brain can have difficulty writing for a few minutes or hours. Different people who experience mild strokes of the same size in the brain stem, brain parts centered for balance, voice control, and eye movements, may temporarily be unable to continue their activities due to vertigo, difficulty speaking, or double vision.
Mild stroke most often affects parts of the brain that control movements and feelings on the face, arms and legs. They can also affect our ability to understand and produce speech. Here is a list of the most common symptoms of mild strokes:
- Weakness of the face, and / or arms, muscles of the leg on one side of the body.
- Numbness of the face and / or leg arms on one side of the body.
- Inability to understand spoken language.
- Inability to speak.
- Dizziness without reason or vertigo.
- Vision loss in one eye.
- Double vision or blur.
What is the difference between a mild stroke and a stroke?
With the current definition, symptoms of transient ischemic stroke / stroke disappear completely within 24 hours, while strokes leave a long-term physical disorder. However, when we compare the brains of people who suffer from stroke, with the brains of people who suffer from mild strokes using MRI, it is often not distinguishable from one another. Why is that? Because this is the subject of intense research and there are no definitive answers, but this shows that although mild strokes only cause transient symptoms, they can still cause permanent damage to the brain.
What should I do when I have a mini stroke?
The more we learn about mild strokes, the more convinced we are that there are signs of a mild stroke that is happening. This is why no matter how mild or short the symptoms of a mild stroke, it is very important to go to the nearest hospital as soon as you start feeling symptoms such as stroke.
Even if you have a mild stroke a few days ago, you still need to seek medical help as soon as possible. The urgency of this cannot be underestimated because 20% of people who suffer from transient ischemic attacks will continue to suffer strokes within 90 days.
The high risk of stroke after a mild stroke has motivated many medical institutions to store all data on mild stroke patients in hospitals for thorough observation and testing even in cases where symptoms disappear completely when the patient arrives in the emergency room. In many cases, the initial search for the causes of mild strokes allows for early intervention and successful stroke prevention.