Patients who suffer stroke-like attacks can have mortality rates 20% higher than the general population, leading to calls for better stroke prevention strategies for those who experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA).
A TIA occurs when blood flow to the brain ceases for a period of time, leaving a person with stroke-like symptoms for a short period. But a TIA is seen as a warning sign that a real stroke may occur in the future if preventative steps are not taken.
The study’s lead author, from UNSW’s School of Public Health and Community Medicine, said nine years after a TIA, mortality rates are 20% higher than for those who do not experience an attack. Not only that, after nine years, 50% of patients with a TIA had died.
TIA has long been recognised as a risk factor for early stroke.
Read more at UNSW Sydney