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Heart Health
Hospitalization after a ministroke? Not necessarily
- By Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
For preventing a future stroke, special clinics that test for the underlying causes of stroke seem to be just as effective.
A temporary disruption in blood flow to part of your brain, often called a ministroke, can alter how you move, speak, or see. Also known as a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, this unsettling event may last just a few minutes or many hours (see "Spot a stroke"). Once the symptoms subside, you may feel perfectly normal and be tempted to forget it ever happened.
But nearly one in six people who experience a TIA has a full-blown stroke within the next three months — sometimes with devastating effects. Anti-clotting medications are usually started right away in people with a suspected TIA or stroke, but they should also undergo testing as soon as possible to uncover the underlying cause.
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About the Author
Julie Corliss, Executive Editor, Harvard Heart Letter
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Stroke: Strategies to prevent, treat, and recover from a "brain attack"
Protect your brain: That’s the strategy that Harvard doctors recommend in this report on preventing and treating stroke. Whether you’ve already had a mini-stroke or a major stroke, or have been warned that your high blood pressure might cause a future stroke, Stroke: Strategies to prevent, treat, and recover from a "brain attack" provides help and advice.
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