TIA or 'mini stroke'

A TIA, or Transient Ischaemic Attack, is often called a ‘mini stroke’.
There are between 30,000 and 40,000 TIAs every year in this country.
The symptoms are very similar to a full-blown stroke: sudden weakness, numbness, clumsiness or pins and needles on one side of the body; sudden loss of, or blurred sight in one or both eyes; slurred speech or difficulty finding words.
A TIA should never be ignored – seek urgent medical attention.
Without treatment a quarter of people having a TIA will go on to have a full-blown stroke within a few years.
Up to 12 per cent of those who develop a TIA will go on to sustain a stroke within the following 12 months.
The peak onset of stroke after a TIA is within the first four to six weeks.

In this section

Following a TIA the risk of death from an MI (myocardial infarction) or ‘heart attack’ is 5 per cent per year.
Following a TIA, the risk of stroke increases to approximately seven-times that of the general population of the same age: 12% in the first year and 7% per annum thereafter.

What Causes a TIA?

Two large blood vessels, one on either side of the neck, carry oxygenated blood up into the head. Called the carotid arteries, they branch into smaller and smaller blood vessels which carry blood to all parts of the brain. If one or more of these tiny blood vessels gets clogged, by a blood clot or other debris, the blood supply to nearby brain cells may be disrupted.

If this disruption is temporary, a TIA may occur. If the disruption is permanent, it may result in a stroke.Sometimes a TIA occurs when a blood clot from a blood vessel in another part of the body or from the heart moves upwards into one of the brain’s arteries. Very rarely, symptoms of a TIA are due to bleeding (haemorrhage) in the brain or other causes rather than clogged arteries.

We are indebted to the Stroke Association for their help in compiling this section.

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