TRANSIENT ISCHEMIC ATTACKS
THESE SMALL STROKES REQUIRE BIG ACTION
STROKE SYMPTOMS COME ON FAST
and demand
fast action. But what should you do if those symptoms
fade away as quickly as they occur?
Every year, some 240,000 people in the U.S. could ask
that question. That’s how many people have transient
ischemic attacks (TIAs)—episodes that often warn of
future strokes. How people respond to those warnings
could mean the difference between long, healthy lives
and long-term disability—or even death.
ALWAYS AN EMERGENCY
TIA and strokes are alike in
that both involve blocked blood flow to the brain, often
because of a clot. The difference is duration.
A TIA may last only a few minutes before the body
breaks up the clot, restores the brain’s blood supply and
prevents serious injury to the brain.
With a stroke, blood flow is interrupted for much lon-
ger. Without a steady supply of blood, brain cells become
damaged or die.
The problem is that there’s no way to immediately
know whether a stroke or TIA is taking place because
their symptoms are exactly the same. Both come on sud-
denly and include:
●
●
Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg—
especially on one side of the body.
●
●
Confusion.
●
●
Trouble speaking or understanding speech.
●
●
Trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
●
●
Trouble walking. This may include dizziness or loss of
balance or coordination.
●
●
Severe headache with no known cause.
And, since fast treatment is the best way to limit a
stroke’s impact, it’s dangerous to take a wait-and-see
approach and hope that symptoms resolve themselves.
That’s one reason why doctors recommend that anyone
with TIA or stroke symptoms call 911 and get emergency
medical help right away.
Another reason: A TIA can signal that a full-blown
stroke is just waiting to happen. In fact, up to 40 percent of
people who have a TIA go on to have such a stroke—often
within the first 48 hours. Getting treatment after a TIA
can reduce that risk.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Treatment for a TIA often in-
cludes lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet,
getting regular exercise and quitting smoking. Medicine
may also be needed to control blood pressure; cholesterol;
and any underlying health problems, such as diabetes or
heart trouble.
In addition, some people may need to take aspirin or
other drugs to limit blood-clot formation that could lead
to a stroke or another TIA.
Sources: American Stroke Association; National Institutes of Health; National Stroke
Association; UpToDate.com
Types of stroke
A stroke occurs when blood flow
to the brain is interrupted. Without
blood—and the nourishing oxygen it
carries—brain cells begin to die.
That can happen in just minutes,
sometimes with devastating effects
on body parts controlled by the af-
fected brain cells, such as the face,
arms, legs or eyes.
Stroke typically strikes in one of
two ways:
■
■
Ischemic stroke is the most com-
mon type. It occurs when an artery
that feeds the brain becomes blocked,
often by a blood clot. A clot can form
in the artery itself or elsewhere in
the body. It can then break free and
travel through the blood stream until it
lodges in or near the brain.
■
■
A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when
a blood vessel in the brain bursts or
leaks. That causes pressure, which
damages brain cells. The injured blood
vessel can be inside the brain or on
the surface of it.
No matter what type of stroke
a person has, emergency medical
treatment is vital. Prompt action can
help prevent permanent brain damage,
long-term disability or death.
Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
WOMEN AND HEART ATTACKS
BE AWARE
OF SUBTLER
SYMPTOMS
IF YOUR DAD SAID,
“It feels like there’s an elephant
sitting on my chest,” chances are you’d dial 911 and tell
the operator, “We think it’s a heart attack.”
But what if your mom said, “I’m totally exhausted,
and I feel sick to my stomach”—would you consider her
wise to take some stomach-settling medicine and a nap?
Or would you know that her nausea and extreme fa-
tigue could be signs she’s having a heart attack?
Even though every 90 seconds a woman in the U.S.
has a heart attack, many people don’t know a woman’s
symptoms can sometimes be different and more subtle
than a man’s. And when a woman doesn’t realize she’s
having a heart attack, she may not get the emergency care
she needs to prevent possibly fatal damage to her heart.
KNOW THE SYMPTOMS
For both men and women, the
most common signs of a heart attack are:
●
●
Pain, pressure, squeezing or discomfort in the chest.
●
●
Sudden cold sweats.
●
●
Fatigue for no reason.
●
●
Sudden dizziness or light-headedness.
●
●
Sharp pain in one or both arms, the upper back, the
neck, or the jaw.
●
●
Shortness of breath for no apparent reason.
●
●
Nausea or vomiting.
Samaritan Hospital’s
emergency room is open
24 hours a day, 7 days a
week, 365 days a year.
Of these, the last three tend to be more common for
women than for men. Women are actually twice as likely
as men to vomit or be nauseated during a heart attack.
They might also:
●
●
Have pain or pressure in the lower chest, stomach and
upper abdomen.
●
●
Feel really tired.
●
●
Experience sudden dizziness, with or without fainting.
More than half of women having a heart attack report
muscle weakness that’s not related to exercising. For some,
extreme breathlessness—also without exertion—is the
only sign they’re having a heart attack.
According to a survey by the American Heart As-
sociation, many women would be reluctant to call for
emergency medical help if they thought they were hav-
ing a heart attack. Yet it’s vital to get immediate help.
Treatment is most effective if given within one hour after
symptoms start.
So if you or anyone you know has one or more symp-
toms of a heart attack, call 911 right away. Don’t wait more
than five minutes to get help.
Additional source: Office on Women’s Health
2
S P R I N G 2 0 1 4
T H E
S A M A R I T A N
