A Week Before a Stroke, Your Body Will Warn You These Signals, American Academy of Neurology Reports

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Warning signs of an ischemic stroke may be evident as early as seven days before an attack and require urgent treatment to prevent serious damage to the brain, according to a study of stroke patients published in the March 8, 2005 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Eighty percent of strokes are ischemic, caused by the narrowing of the large or small arteries of the brain, or by clots that block blood flow to the brain. They are often preceded by a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a “warning stroke” or “mini-stroke” that shows symptoms similar to a stroke, typically lasts less than five minutes, and does not injure the brain.

The study examined 2,416 people who had experienced an ischemic stroke. In 549 patients, TIAs were experienced prior to the ischemic stroke and in most cases occurred within the preceding seven days: 17 percent occurring on the day of the stroke, 9 percent on the previous day, and 43 percent at some point during the seven days prior to the stroke.

“We have known for some time that TIAs are often a precursor to a major stroke,” said study author Peter M. Rothwell, MD, PhD, FRCP, of the Department of Clinical Neurology at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England. “What we haven’t been able to determine is how urgently patients must be assessed following a TIA in order to receive the most effective preventive treatment. This study indicates that 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.”

Rothwell also noted that clinical guidelines should be amended accordingly. And here are the early warning signs of stroke that can be seen a week before the actual attack.

6 Warning Signs That Show a Stroke Is Coming, and It’s Really Important to Know Them

Having a stroke is similar to a heart attack, but in this case, it attacks your brain. Actually, a cerebral stroke happens when some parts of the brain are interrupted and that makes our body unable to function normally. The affected part of the brain needs urgent medical attention as its important for the brain to get a continuous supply of oxygen to be able to function normally.

The symptoms of a stroke usually develop quickly but it can sometimes take hours or even days to notice that something is wrong. So, if you think that you may be experiencing any of these symptoms, it’s important not to ignore it, even if some of them don’t seem too serious.

1. High blood pressure

High blood pressure can lead to severe problems like a stroke by damaging the brain nerves or weakening the blood vessel and leading to a leak or rupture. Apart from that, high blood pressure is the reason for clot formation in the bloodstream and leading them to the brain, causing a stroke in the process.

2. Vision problems

Stroke can cause double vision, loss of vision in one eye, or blurred vision. When about 1,300 people during a survey in the UK were asked, they all remembered blurred vision/vision problems as a strong indicator.

3. Numbness on one side of the body — face, hands, or legs

It is common to have numbness or weakness in the face, an arm, or a leg on either side of the body. In some cases, there can also be paralysis on the opposite side of where the stroke occurred in the brain.

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