Usually, evidence of a silent stroke is found while undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test for another condition. They often do not even remember having any symptoms and are surprised when they get the news. A ministroke, on the other hand, is a brief but memorable event.
Silent strokes can cause permanent damage to the brain, and they should be addressed by medical professionals as soon as possible. Here are five things you should know about silent strokes.
A silent stroke refers to a stroke that doesn't cause any noticeable symptoms. Most strokes are caused by a clot that blocks a blood vessel in the brain. The blockage prevents blood and oxygen from reaching that area, causing nearby brain cells to die.
Every year, an estimated 8 to 10 million Americans suffer a stroke and don't even know it. Referred to as “silent strokes,” this type of stroke causes no obvious symptoms when they occur but over time can lead to memory loss and cognitive decline.
Treating Silent Strokes
Treatment may include: Thrombolysis, a process used to dissolve blood clots and restore blood flow through the use of medication. Use of medication to treat an underlying condition like high blood pressure (a risk factor for silent strokes)
The silent type
Brain damage from silent strokes is minor and limited to areas of the brain that don't control parts of the body that would prompt typical stroke symptoms, such as blurry vision or trouble raising an arm. Rather, you might have difficulty concentrating or remembering things.
Changes in your emotions and to your personality are common after stroke. It's very normal to experience strong emotions after stroke, however these emotional reactions usually get better with time. Longer-term emotional and personality changes can be very challenging.
They're called silent strokes, and they either have no easy-to-recognize symptoms, or you don't remember them. But they do cause permanent damage in your brain. If you've had more than one silent stroke, you may have thinking and memory problems. They can also lead to more severe strokes.
A person's life expectancy after a mini stroke reduces by around 4% in the first year following the attack in comparison to people who have not had one. In the following 9 years, life expectancy reduces by 20%. These statistics come from a 2019 review .
Silent strokes increase the likelihood of more strokes in the future, and can cause cumulative damage over time, including a significant, lasting impact on memory. In fact, silent strokes are one of the leading causes of vascular dementia in persons over the age of 70.
Aging: the prevalence of silent stroke rises with increasing age with a prevalence rate of over twenty percent of the elderly increasing to 30%-40% in those over the age of 70. Anemia: children with acute anemia caused by medical conditions other than sickle cell anemia with hemoglobin below 5.5 g/dL.
The study, which appears in the journal Neurology, shows that stroke caused by stress is indeed possible — and any stress is harmful to your health and should be taken seriously.
A transient ischaemic attack or TIA is also known as a mini-stroke. It is the same as a stroke, except that the symptoms only last for a short amount of time. This is because the blockage that stops the blood getting to your brain is temporary.
Stroke (infarction) blocking a brain artery.
These silent strokes still increase dementia risk. With both silent and apparent strokes, the risk of vascular dementia increases with the number of strokes that occur over time. One type of vascular dementia involving many strokes is called multi-infarct dementia.
Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, numbness or tingling several days before they have a serious stroke. One study found that 43% of stroke patients experienced mini-stroke symptoms up to a week before they had a major stroke.
Men and women who have strokes often experience a similar set of symptoms that can be remembered using the mnemonic F.A.S.T.: face drooping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, time to call 911. Other signs include problems seeing out of one or both eyes and balance or coordination problems.
Healthcare providers can get a computed tomography (CT) scan in only a few minutes. It helps them to quickly see if you're having a brain bleed or not and, if so, provide treatment immediately. An MRI scan helps your care team tell if you had a stroke or a TIA.
How Does a Stroke Impact Life Expectancy? Despite the likelihood of making a full recovery, life expectancy after stroke incidents can decrease. Unfortunately, researchers have observed a wide range of life expectancy changes in stroke patients, but the average reduction in lifespan is nine and a half years.
There are undeniable links between heart disease, stroke and stress. Stress can cause the heart to work harder, increase blood pressure, and increase sugar and fat levels in the blood. These things, in turn, can increase the risk of clots forming and travelling to the heart or brain, causing a heart attack or stroke.
Often times, silent stroke impacts the short-term memory much more severely than it does the long-term memory. In other cases, the damage is less severe because the blood flow was interrupted for a shorter amount of time, and the synapses will learn to respond again with practice.
“It is important to go to your family physician if there are concerns about neurological symptoms like weakness or speech difficulty because silent strokes put people at risk not only for future symptomatic strokes but also for cognitive decline and dementia,” said Smith, an associate professor of neurology at the ...
Sometimes, people may have a stroke and not know it. This can happen with a silent cerebral infarction, or silent stroke, and transient ischemic attack (TIA). Silent strokes do not cause symptoms, and people often dismiss the symptoms of TIAs.
Fatigue can happen after any type of stroke, and you can have severe fatigue after a relatively mild stroke or a TIA.