A recent study shows that people who experience a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or a minor stroke are at a high risk of having a full stroke for many years afterward—up to a decade.
Researchers found that the risk remains elevated well beyond the first few months, which is when doctors usually pay the most attention.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that people who had a TIA or minor stroke have about a 13% greater risk of having a full stroke within five years. That risk grows to 20% after 10 years. This means that one in five people who suffer a minor stroke or TIA could have a major stroke later in life.
Faizan Khan, a researcher at the University of Calgary, said these results were surprising. “We were not expecting such a large long-term risk beyond the first 90 days,” he told tctMD, a cardiovascular news service. He hopes these findings will encourage doctors to keep monitoring patients beyond the short-term follow-up.
A transient ischemic attack, also called a mini-stroke, happens when blood flow to the brain is briefly blocked. According to the American Stroke Association, the clot usually dissolves or moves on its own, and symptoms often disappear within five minutes. Even though it doesn’t cause lasting damage, a TIA is a serious warning sign. It means a bigger stroke could happen in the future.
The symptoms of a TIA are the same as a major stroke. These can include sudden numbness or weakness on one side of the body, slurred speech, trouble understanding speech, vision loss in one or both eyes, dizziness, or a strong headache with no clear reason.
Right now, most clinics focus on preventing another stroke within the first 90 days after a TIA or minor stroke. That’s because earlier research showed the risk is highest during that short period. But this new study shows that the danger doesn’t go away after three months—it lingers for years.
To find out more about the long-term risk, researchers looked at data from 38 earlier studies. These studies followed more than 171,000 people who had experienced a TIA or minor stroke and tracked their health for at least one year.
The researchers found that the risk of having a full stroke was 6% in the first year, but then it continued to rise. After five years, the risk was about 13%, and by 10 years, it had grown to 20%. The chances of having a stroke caused by a blood clot were about 18% higher at the 10-year mark, and the risk of dying from a stroke increased by about 3%.
Dr. Michael Hill, a senior researcher and professor at the University of Calgary, said that these “mini-strokes” should be seen as serious warnings. “This is the time to pay attention and fix it, and fix it for good,” he said.
This study highlights the need for doctors and patients to take long-term stroke prevention more seriously. Instead of stopping care after a few months, continued monitoring, lifestyle changes, and medications might be needed for years after a TIA or minor stroke to truly protect brain health.
If you care about stroke, please read studies that diets high in flavonoids could help reduce stroke risk, and MIND diet could slow down cognitive decline after stroke.
For more health information, please see recent studies about antioxidants that could help reduce the risk of dementia, and tea and coffee may help lower your risk of stroke, dementia.
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