On Sunday night, 26.7 million people watched the Grammy Awards. Unfortunately, what they also saw was reporter Serene Branson have what at least two reputable doctors have confirmed as a “neurological event” on live TV. She started her sentence off with, “A very” and then the slurring began. For ten long seconds she obviously knows what’s going on as she desperately tries to speak, although nothing but gibberish comes out. If in fact, Serene did suffer a TIA (transient ischemic attack), this is a clear reminder that strokes are not just for old people anymore.
The latest report from the American Stroke Association meeting in Dallas on Wednesday, verified that strokes are rising in people in their 30s and 40s while unbelievably, they are dropping in the elderly.
What they reported was a 51 percent rise in strokes in males aging from 15 through 34. In females that rate was a lot smaller, rising 17 percent in the same age range.
Some doctors believe these findings are due to higher stress rates, rising obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes among teenagers. A sign that we live in a culture that is moving so quickly and eating so much junk, we’re literally killing ourselves at a faster rate. Something to think about the next time you pull into a McDonald's or Burger King.
Stroke and TIAs
Both a stroke and a TIA happen when a blood clot or narrowing of the arteries stops the blood flow to a part of the brain. The major difference between a TIA and stroke is the time-line and damage. While a TIA is relatively short (most of the time one to thirty minutes long) and leaves no lasting damage, a stroke can last for up to 24 hours and have fatal or disabling results.
Doctors call a TIA a “warning stroke” or “mini stroke” because they usually precede a major stroke. The American Heart Association just reported an even more frightening statistic: a stroke usually occurs within one year of the TIA in about half the cases.
TIA and Stroke Symptoms
The symptoms of a stroke and TIA are similar because they are both doing the same thing to the brain. Therefore, their indications are:
- Sudden difficulty speaking (aphasia)or understanding speech
- Sudden onset of dizziness or trouble walking
- Sudden headache
- Sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body or the face, an arm or leg
- Sudden trouble seeing out of one or both eyes
TIA and Stroke Prevention
- If you drink diet soda, stop immediately. A preliminary study just revealed that people who drink diet sodas are at a whopping 48 percent greater risk for heart attacks and strokes than people who don’t drink them.
- Cut down your salt intake. You may be surprised at how much salt some of our canned vegetables, lunch meats and favorite soups contain.
- Do not smoke
- Lose weight if you are overweight
- Exercise regularly
- If you have sleep apnea or diabetes, monitor and treat these conditions
Sources
The Coastal Courier February 16, 2011 article (accessed on February 17, 2011
MED TV written by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD (accessed February 17, 2011)
Christy McKinney - Christy McKinney had an interesting childhood, growing up in Willis, Texas and Phoenix, Arizona alternately with her divorced mother and ...
Join the Conversation