If you think a TIA that causes only one symptom isn’t as serious as a multi-symptom transient ischemic attack, you’re in for a shock.
Suppose you have sudden-onset blurry vision but no other symptoms, and you suppose this was a transient ischemic attack, but then you figure, “Oh, can’t be serious; it was only one symptom.”
“Single TIA symptom might be as serious as multi-symptoms,” says Ivan Mikolaenko, MD, a board certified neurologist of 20+ years based in New York with subspecialty certification in neurocritical care.
“We, vascular neurologists, sometimes rate the clinical picture into `hard` and `soft` symptoms of TIA. The `hard` ones usually are problems with language (aphasia), one-sided weakness (hemiparesis), or loss of vision in one eye (monocular blindness).
“But many patients might have mild headache (cephalgia), dizziness (vertigo or lightheadedness), confusion, blurry vision, which very often will be ignored or pointed as not feeling well.”
These sensations may also be brushed off as side effects of medication.
Dr. Mikolaenko refers to the mild headache, dizziness, confusion and blurry vision as soft signs of a TIA, “and such transient symptoms require careful neurologic evaluation, particularly if they occur in the right context.
“It is believed that TIAs are warning signs of stroke, especially those associated with weakness and speech impairment.
“Patients who experience only isolated sensory symptoms [such as dizziness, slight headache, double vision] that resolve within 10 minutes are at risk of recurrent TIAs but rarely for the full-blown stroke.”
This doesn’t get you off the hook. If you have a “soft” TIA sign while driving, you’ll likely lose control of the car.
A soft symptom even while standing could result in a hard fall to the floor, causing a serious injury such as a brain bleed.
Conditions treated by Dr. Mikolaenko in the intensive care setting include strokes, ruptured aneurysms, trauma-related brain and spinal cord injuries, seizures and brain swelling, infections and tumors.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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