Mini-strokes shorten life expectancy by 20%

Mini-stroke, medically known as transient ischemic attack (TIA), occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is temporarily blocked or reduced. While the symptoms resemble those of a stroke, but the impact lasts no more than one to two hours.

However, the after effects may include muscle weakness, numbness or loss of speech. A history of a TIA is often touted as a major risk factor for strokes.

The study
To study if mini-strokes impacts sufferers’ life expectancy negatively, researchers at the University of New South Wales in Sydney enrolled 22,157 Australian adults who suffered a TIA between 2000 and 2007.

The health records of all participants were assessed for at least two years. Using death registry data from 2009, the researchers then calculated life expectancy by comparing mortality rates of TIA patients with healthy counterparts from general population.

Findings of the study
Researchers found that the life expectancy declined steadily each year.

After nine years, nearly half of the TIA patients had died - death rate 20 percent higher than in the general population.

Furthermore, while suffering a TIA had minimal effects on the life expectancy of people younger than age 50, but it did increase mortality among those older than age 65.

The TIA patients aged between 75 and 84 ran an almost 8 percent higher risk of death than healthy counterparts of the general population, researchers highlighted.

“People experiencing a TIA won't die from it, but they will have a high risk of early stroke and also an increased risk of future problems that may reduce life expectancy. Our findings suggest that patients and doctors should be careful to intensely manage lifestyle and medical risk factors for years after a transient ischaemic attack,” study lead researcher, Dr Melina Gattellari, from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said.

The findings of the study are published in Stroke, a Journal of the American Heart Association.