Transient Ischemic Attack – “Mini Stroke”   

Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is similar to stroke but it is temporary and its symptom start disappearing in a few minutes or hours that’s why it is also called a “Mini Stroke”. This happens due to ruptured artery, blood clotting, plaque & bad cholesterol deposition in the artery and secondly due to the coming of air bubbles in the blood vessels & arteries getting narrowed. Arteries supply oxygenated blood and nutrient to the brain, but that process gets interrupted by these factors and arteries get blocked, the brain cannot receive enough amount of oxygen by arteries resulting in “Transient Ischemic Attack’’. Common symptoms include blur vision, dizziness; slurred speech person may not able to talk, understanding problems, loss of coordination, weakness, and numbness in arms & legs, face dropping one side, and paralysis. Abnormal health condition like high blood pressure (hypertension), irregular heartbeat (Atrial fibrillation) or any kind of cardiovascular disease, obesity (excessive weight), and high cholesterol level, carotid artery disease (in this case, the blood vessels in the neck that lead to the brain get clogged), & diabetes will increase the chances of atherosclerosis which may lead to stroke. Some studies have found that SARS-CoV-2 also raise the risk of stroke. A TIA diagnosis is done by head CT scan, brain MRI, angiogram, CT angiogram, or MR angiogram, Carotid duplex (ultrasound), echocardiogram (ECG) and through the medical history.TIA is a warning sign which may lead to a risky future in the prospect of a full stroke. Prevention is better than cure so maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, stopping smoking, taking balanced diet and eating healthy foods, maintaining weight, exercising regularly and avoiding heavy drinking (alcohol) and consuming illicit drugs, eating less sodium & controlling diabetes are all necessary for being healthy.   

References

• Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center based in Cleveland, Ohio. Owned and operated by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, an Ohio nonprofit corporation established in 1921.https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14173-transient-ischemic-attack-tia-or-mini-stroke
• The Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research.https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/transient-ischemic-attack/symptoms-causes/syc-20355679
• The Mount Sinai Health System is a hospital network in New York City. It was formed in September 2013 by merging the operations of Continuum Health Partners and the Mount Sinai Medical Center.https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/diseases-conditions/transient-ischemic-attack