Story by: Norton Healthcare on February 12, 2021
The symptoms of a mini stroke are the same as a stroke, but may pass after a few minutes or hours. Mini stroke is a terrible name for what’s happening — it’s neither mini nor is it a stroke.
If you don’t treat it as an emergency, you could be allowing a stroke to kill 32,000 brain cells by the second. Even if the symptoms pass, it can trick you into thinking you’re going to be fine. You may not be — strokes often follow within a day or two.
The medical term is “transient ischemic attack” (TIA) and there’s no way for you to know on your own if it’s a stroke.
Quick stroke treatment can mean the difference between full recovery and lifelong complications.
Norton Healthcare operates the area’s largest stroke care system. At its core is Norton Brownsboro Hospital, which is certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission and the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association.
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“Anyone who experiences stroke symptoms needs immediate evaluation. The sooner the patient receives treatment, the better the chance of having a good recovery. We are only able to offer medical treatment for acute stroke if the person comes to the hospital within 4 1/2 hours from when they start to experience symptoms,” said Danny R. Rose Jr., M.D., a Norton Neuroscience Institute neurologist specializing in stroke. “People should not wait to see if their symptoms get better on their own. Even if you have symptoms that resolved at home, you still need to seek care immediately, as your symptoms may come back at any time.”
If physicians find that your symptoms were a TIA and not a stroke, they can take steps to help ward off the stroke that may be coming.
Like a stroke, a TIA is caused by a clot or narrowed artery. Unlike a stroke, the blockage of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances clears relatively quickly. But the source of that blockage is still in your system and isn’t going away.
TIAs can be difficult to diagnose and require close monitoring. A Comprehensive Stroke Center — recognized by the American Heart Association, the American Stroke Association and The Joint Commission — has the resources, staff and training to handle complex cases.[templatera id=”89477″]
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