|
Item #8.
WARNINGS
OF STROKE, A REMINDER
Too
few people know the symptoms of TIA’s which lead to stroke.
Duke
University physicians found that far too few people who had
experienced TIAs (transient ischemic attacks) understood that
these attacks (in which not enough blood circulates through part
of the brain) must be taken seriously as warning symptoms of
stroke, even though they are usually brief and followed by
complete recovery.
TIAs
produce numbness or weakness of part of the body for a short time
(usually 5 minutes or less, occasionally for 1-2 hours, and rarely
up to 24 hours). Also, during TIAs one may temporarily have
slurred speech or be unable to talk, be dizzy and confused, or
experience partial loss of one’s field of vision (commonly
reported as "like a curtain coming down over my eyes").
Recovery is usually sudden and complete (until the next TIA).
In
the Duke series of 1,707 people with TIAs, 10% developed a
full-blown stroke within 3 months, half of them within the first 2
days. The other half had TIAs repeatedly, with 14% of them
developing strokes 3 months or more later. Tragically, many
(perhaps most) of these strokes could have been prevented had the
patients taken their symptoms more seriously. Too many people, it
seems, deceive themselves that nothing is wrong since they feel
completely normal again after a TIA, and because they do not
realize that TIAs are symptoms of impending stroke. Accordingly,
they feel that the incident need not be taken seriously, and are
not inclined to report it to a doctor. Even if they do report to
their doctors, they tend not to take medication as prescribed, or
stop taking it because they have no further TIAs.
It
is important for TIA victims to keep taking stroke-preventing
medication for the rest of their lives. Prime subjects for strokes
after TIAs are those with high blood pressure, valvular heart
disease or diabetes, those over age 60, and those whose symptoms
include weakness lasting longer than 10 minutes. All these people
are twice as likely than others to have a stroke soon after a TIA.
Sources: GERIATRICS (55#3:89,2000)
================================
Did
You Know:
An aspirin a
day is now a commonly accepted way to prevent heart attacks. But
could it also ward off diabetes? Research in rodents finds aspirin
like drugs shield cells from the ravages of inflammation and help
reduce their resistance to insulin. The compounds also appear to
stimulate tissue in the pancreas to make more insulin, the hormone
that helps the body convert sugar to energy. Large amounts of
aspirin is toxic and can cause severe bleeding. But researchers
are working on a novel form of aspirin that's safer on the gastric
tract.
Back / Next Item
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
|
