This mini health condition is more serious than doctors thought and can lead to brain decline: study

There’s new wisdom about a brain diagnosis that shouldn’t be ignored.Research consistently shows that experiencing a stroke significantly increases the risk of developing cognitive decline and dementia.A new study suggests that having a transient ischemic attack (TIA), also known as a “mini-stroke,” may have similar long-lasting effects on the brain.Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham followed 356 people who experienced their first TIA and 965 who had a first stroke.The stroke group had the largest cognitive decline promptly after the episode.

The TIA patients had their symptoms resolve quickly without immediate cognitive change, but “there was apparently sufficient impact to be associated with long-term cognitive decline,” the study authors wrote Monday in JAMA Neurology.Dr.Raphael Sacho, director of cerebrovascular and endovascular neurosurgery at Northwell Staten Island University Hospital, said this new study demonstrates that patients aren’t out of the woods even when they don’t show overt stroke signs.“Whether this is related to ongoing neurological damage that can be avoided with careful attention to preventing further TIAs or strokes remains to be studied,” Sacho said, “but certainly improving overall cardiovascular health such as blood pressure control, lowering cholesterol and diabetes management are very important.”Here’s everything you need to know about TIAs, which affect about 240,000 Americans each year.TIA is a temporary disruption of blood flow to the brain, spurring stroke-like symptoms that typically last two to 15 minutes.“A stroke is when the neurological deficit lasts for more than a few hours and is more or less permanent,” Sacho explained.

“A stroke is usually accompanied by evidence of stroke changes on imaging such as an MRI scan of the brain, but often with a TIA there are no or minimal signs of a stroke on brain imaging.”TIA is usually caused by a blood clot triggered by a narrowing...