About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffTransient ischemic attacks usually last a few minutes. Most signs and symptoms disappear within an hour. The signs and symptoms of TIA resemble those found early in a stroke and may include:
- Sudden weakness, numbness or paralysis in your face, arm or leg, typically on one side of your body
- Slurred or garbled speech or difficulty understanding others
- Sudden blindness in one or both eyes or double vision
- Dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
You may have more than one TIA, and the recurrent signs and symptoms may be similar or different depending on which area of the brain is involved. If signs and symptoms last longer than 24 hours or cause lasting brain damage, it's considered a stroke.
When to see a doctor
Seek immediate medical attention if you suspect you've had a transient ischemic attack. Prompt evaluation and identification of potentially treatable conditions may help you prevent a stroke.
- NINDS transient ischemic attack information page. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tia/tia.htm. Accessed Dec. 28, 2010.
- Transient ischemic attack (TIA). American Stroke Association. http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/AboutStroke/TypesofStroke/TIA/TIA-Transient-Ischemic-Attack_UCM_310942_Article.jsp. Accessed Dec. 28, 2010.
- Kistler JP, et al. Definition of transient ischemic attack. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 27, 2010.
- Aminoff MJ, et al. Nervous system disorders. In: McPhee SJ, et al. Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment. 50th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2011. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=12696&searchStr=transient+ischemic+attack. Accessed Dec. 28, 2010.
- Kistler JP, et al. Etiology and clinical manifestations of transient ischemic attack. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 27, 2010.
- Furie KL, et al. Secondary prevention of stroke: Risk factor reduction. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 27, 2010.
- Stroke risk factors. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4716. Accessed Jan. 5, 2011.
- Goldstein LB, et al. Guidelines for the primary prevention of stroke. Stroke. 2011;42:517.
- Kistler JP, et al. Initial evaluation and management of transient ischemic attack and minor stroke. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 27, 2010.
- Cucchiara B, et al. Transient ischemic attack. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2011; 154(1):ITC1.
- Kistler JP, et al. Secondary prevention for specific causes of ischemic stroke and transient ischemic stroke. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Dec. 27, 2010.
- Stroke treatment. American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4724. Accessed Jan. 7, 2011.
- Cholesterol and stroke. National Stroke Association. http://www.stroke.org/site/DocServer/Cholesterol_and_Stroke_2_6-09.pdf?docID=3024. Accessed Jan. 18, 2011.
Find Mayo Clinic on