Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Don't just shrug off a mini-stroke

TIAs - or transient ischemic attacks - are too often shrugged off as unimportant. However, that's wrong.

Even if the person can move and speak with no difficulty after a mini-stroke, that doesn't mean the patient and professionals should walk away and do nothing. A recent study showed that many patients with TIA have long-term cognitive impairment:
"Our findings confirm what we experience in daily practice: While motor and language disturbances recover within 24 hours after a TIA, long-lasting cognitive complaints are a problem for many patients. There needs to be more clinical awareness of this issue," lead investigator Ewoud J van Dijk, MD, from the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, the Netherlands, told Medscape Medical News.
He suggested that a TIA affects complex networks that are involved in cognitive functioning. "These networks are likely more vulnerable than those involved in motor and language function. Further study is needed to confirm this, but physicians should be aware of these cognitive dysfunctions because it potentially affects quality of professional and daily living," he said.

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