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Long-Term Risk of Stroke After TIA in the Young

Transient ischemic attack, or TIA, is a condition that produces temporary symptoms of stroke, including numbness, sudden facial or body paralysis, slurred speech and sudden blindness or double vision. It is sometimes called a mini-stroke. Roughly one-third of individuals who experience TIA have an acute stroke at some later point. While age is one risk factor associated with eventual stroke, most risks are not age-related.

  1. Age Risks

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, age is classified as an unchangeable risk factor for TIA and eventual stroke. This means that regardless of other factors, stroke chances increase with age, with individuals over the age of 55 being particularly at risk.

    Additional Risks

    • However, most of the risks associated with eventual stroke are not age-related. Unchangeable factors that are independent of age include being male or African-American, or having a family history of stroke. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), there are also numerous changeable factors that are related to eventual stroke. These include high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, heavy alcohol use, carotid artery disease and smoking. Additional factors include high cholesterol, peripheral artery disease, poor nutrition, obesity, illicit drug use and use of birth control.

    Significance

    • Since age is only one risk factor among many, long-term risk for stroke after TIA is essentially the same in young people as in other adults.This may be particularly true for individuals who are male, African-American or have a stroke-related family history, but also applies to anyone who does not properly control other significant factors not related to age.

    Prevention

    • The NINDS cites lifestyle change as a significant way to reduce or eliminate the chances of TIA leading to a stroke. Important changes include regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight based on height and gender, eating a properly balanced diet, limiting fat and cholesterol intake, limiting sodium intake, and limiting or eliminating such harmful habits as smoking and alcohol and drug use. Underlying disease processes such as diabetes must also be controlled.

    Warning

    • Half of the people who experience a stroke after TIA will do so within a year. While they are in progress, TIAs and strokes are identical events with identical symptoms. TIA differs from stroke only because the blood clot that triggers the condition does not lodge permanently within the affected artery. For this reason, a TIA typically stops within 24 hours of its onset. If TIA lasts for more than 24 hours, it is classified as a stroke. Immediate medical treatment is needed for both TIA and stroke.

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