Prime Time Living 9.24.25 - Flipbook - Page 10
10 A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, September 24, 2025
HEALTH
Your Early Warning
System: TIAs
Transient Ischemic Attacks,
called mini-strokes, alert you
to get your brain checked
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
“I
think it must have started the night before, because my speech was
messed up,” James told me. “Then, in the morning, my arm felt funny. It
wasn’t numb, I guess it was kind of tingly. Then I got in the shower, and I
had to lift my leg up three times to get out of the tub. I drove to work, and one of
the guys said, ‘Your mouth is drooping.’ And I knew, right away, what happened. I
went to the emergency department, and they poked and prodded me all night, and
I finally got to sleep. In the morning, they tested me, made me walk around and do
some stairs, and then finally let me go.
“About a year later, I noticed my
arm, well, something just wasn’t right. I
stopped at a store on the way to work
and I couldn’t get out of the car. I called
my son, but I couldn’t talk, and I had to
hold up the phone to tell him where I was.
He came and took me to the hospital.
Again, they kept me overnight, and I was
fine. It’s now been three or four years.”
Transient ischemic attacks, TIAs or
warning strokes, “can last as little as 5
minutes and up to 24 hours,” according to the American Stroke Association.
Many people who have had one call it a
mini-stroke, except with a stroke, there is
usually damage to your brain tissue due
to lack of oxygen. With a TIA, it can be
over before paramedics arrive or you can
get to an emergency department, so it
is often ignored by those who have one.
Physicians don’t agree.
“Because it resolves itself so quickly,
people think they are safe, out of the
woods,” explains Dr. Jayne Zhang, a
neurologist with Johns Hopkins Hospital
in Baltimore. “Not true. A lot of patients
don’t know the dangers connected to
TIAs, so they don’t realize a major stroke
can follow almost immediately. For those
who have a TIA, there is a high, shortterm risk of having a stroke: five to ten
percent within 48 hours. That increases
to 17 percent in 90 days. And one in 10
will be women.
“Women over 55 have a higher lifetime
risk because they live longer. However,
overall, men are more prone to experience a TIA.”
Symptoms
As with any vascular (blood vessel
related) disease and with heart disease,
typical symptoms could include the following:
• a drooping face
• a problem with weakness – stenosis
– on one side of your body. It’s on
the opposite side of the body where
it occurred. Right side of brain = left
side of the body
• Aphasia – Speech problems such as
getting words out or comprehension
or slurring
• Vision problems
• Gait disturbance – weakness or
inability to walk properly
• Severe headache with no discernible
cause
• Carotid bruit – a whooshing sound
your provider may hear through a
stethoscope when listening to blood
flow in your neck. It is not a symptom, but a part of the presentation.
It occurs because of the atherosclerosis (a problem in the wall of the
carotid artery). It’s an inexpensive
quick diagnostic tool to determine if
a person had a TIA.
Zhang says, “As with heart disease,
women are more likely to present with
atypical symptoms such as dizziness,
confusion and visual problems. Nausea
can also be a warning. Unfortunately, as
with heart disease, women are not taken
seriously. It has gotten better but there’s
a lot of room for improvement.
“All aspects of brain function are fascinating. I treat patients with stroke and
TIAs. It’s possible that when women
are post-menopausal, they lose estrogen
protection. They should also pay attention to blood pressure and cholesterol
that increase risk.”
When risk factors are discussed,
there are two types: Unmodifiable and
Modifiable. Risk factors for TIAs that are
unmodifiable are age, family history, and,
as mentioned above, they occur more
often in men. It’s good to know your
family history and what problems your
parents, grandparents, and siblings have
developed.
Prevention strategies are the same for
heart disease. TIAs are true emergencies
and it’s important to know your numbers
for your blood pressure, cholesterol and
diabetes. If they are high, they indicate
TIAs
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