Mini Strokes Elevate Death Risk
Wednesday, 16 November 2011, 23:00 IST   |    1 Comments
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Sydney: People who suffer stroke-like attacks have a mortality rate 20 percent higher than the general population. In one of the largest studies of its kind, over 20,000 adults hospitalised between 2000-2007 with a transient ischemic attack (TIA) were surveyed for mortality rates. A TIA occurs when blood flow to the brain ceases for some time, leaving the victim with stroke-like symptoms for a short period. But it could also foreshadow a real stroke if preventative steps are not taken, reports the journal Stroke. University of New South Wales School of Public Health and Community Medicine's Melina Gattellari, who led the study, said nine years after a TIA, mortality rates are 20 percent higher than for those who do not experience an attack. Not only that, 50 percent of patients with a TIA had died after nine years. TIA has long been recognised as a risk factor for early stroke, according to a New South Wales statement. John Worthington, associate professor and Gattellari's Wales' colleague, said the study results emphasised the long-term effects of a TIA event on mortality. "It is time to re-examine the intensity of secondary prevention that we provide, even in people with a distant history of TIA," he said. "The brief stroke-like symptoms of transient ischemic attack are a warning of poor outcomes and an opportunity for doctors and patients to intervene before a more deadly event," he said. Gattellari said, given the research findings, there needed to be more emphasis placed on managing cardiovascular risk factors among those who experience a TIA.
Source: IANS
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