RELATED: Half of People Who Have a Stroke Notice This a Week Earlier, Study Says. Having an ischemic stroke—the result of blood clots or narrowed arteries reducing blood flow to the brain—means you’ve got a matter of minutes before your brain cells begin to die due to insufficient oxygen. However, according to a 2005 study published in the journal Neurology, many patients will experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a “warning stroke” or “mini-stroke,” before that happens. The symptoms of a TIA can occur up to seven days prior to full ischemic stroke and are similar to those experienced with the latter condition, including numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg (especially on one side of the body); new confusion; difficulty speaking; and vision impairment in one or both eyes. While these symptoms seem temporary, they should be addressed immediately when noticed. “The timing of a TIA is critical, and the most effective treatments should be initiated within hours of a TIA in order to prevent a major attack,” study author Peter M. Rothwell, MD, PhD, a clinical neurologist at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, said in a statement. The CDC says that a TIA is a likely warning sign of a future stroke and requires immediate medical attention, though it usually lasts no more than five minutes. RELATED: You’re 80 Percent More Likely to Have a Stroke at This Time, Research Shows. If you notice yourself feeling unsteady on your feet, especially if it is out of the blue, you should address it with your doctor immediately. A problem with your balance could not only be a sign of a full-blown stroke, but also a TIA, meaning the symptom could occur up to a week prior to a major stroke.ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb RELATED: If You Notice This While Walking, It Could Be the First Sign of a Stroke. According to the experts at Cardiac Screen, an independent medical clinic in London that provides specialist cardiac care and heart screening, “the signs of a stroke often appear suddenly, but that doesn’t mean that you won’t have time to act. Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, numbness or tingling several days before they have a serious stroke.” A 2010 study published in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology found that up to 65 percent of people who have a stroke report experiencing a headache beforehand. Sometimes, even more subtle changes could be the sign of a stroke to come years down the road. A 2021 study from Erasmus MC University in the Netherlands published in the Journal Of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry tracked 14,712 participants between 1990 and 2016. At the beginning of the study and periodically thereafter, participants underwent a series of forensic interviews and physical tests that measured everything from memory, speaking abilities, and reaction times to how well they could handle daily chores, like cleaning, managing personal finances, and cooking. Over the course of the study, 1,662 of the participants suffered a first stroke at the average age of 80. After matching each person who had a stroke with three participants who did not, comparisons of the forensic and physical tests showed that participants began showing a decline in their mental performance up to a decade before the actual stroke took place. “Our findings demonstrated that future stroke patients start to deviate from stroke-free controls up to 10 years before the acute event, suggesting that individuals with cognitive and functional decline are at a higher risk of stroke and are possible candidates for prevention trials,” Alis Heshmatollah, MD, a neurology resident at Erasmus MC University and the study’s lead author, wrote in the published findings. For more helpful health information sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter. A recent study published in the American Heart Association (AHA) journal Stroke analyzed the risk of a stroke for postmenopausal women. Researchers monitored more than 16,200 postmenopausal women between the ages of 26 and 70 in the Netherlands for nearly 15 years, observing a total of 830 strokes. The study found that women who experienced menopause before the age of 40 were 1.5 times more likely to experience an ischemic stroke than women who underwent menopause when they were between 50 and 54 years old. “It is of utmost important for all women to try and achieve optimal cardiovascular health before and after menopause, but it is even more important for women with early menopause,” study co-author Yvonne van der Schouw, PhD, a professor of chronic disease epidemiology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said in a statement. In addition to the increased risk for women who go through menopause before age 40, researchers found that for women over the age of 50—which is near the average onset age for menopause—stroke risk decreased by 2 percent each year menopause was delayed. RELATED: Drinking a Cup of This a Day Can Slash Your Stroke Risk, New Study Says.
