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Jul 28, 2009 4:36 pm US/Central
Silent Stroke A Hidden Danger
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Silent stroke victims are at higher risk to have more strokes and have a faster decline in memory and thinking. (File)
CBS
You can have a stroke, and not even realize it, CBS station KDKA-TV reports.
"[Patients] come in for one reason or another, and they're seen by a doctor, and they get a scan, and there they are," says Dr. Jon Brillman, a neurologist at Allegheny General Hospital.
You may have heard of a silent heart attack – that's a heart attack with no chest pain or other symptoms. Well you can have a silent stroke, too. And certain people are at a higher risk.
Usually a stroke will cause symptoms like sudden weakness on one side of the body, sudden loss of vision or double vision, trouble thinking, walking or talking, loss of balance or coordination. But that's not always the case.
"You have to tell the patient they've had strokes in the past, and the patient may be surprised. Actually the doctor may be surprised," Dr. Brillman admits.
In a study in the journal
Neurology, researchers followed nearly 500 people ages 60 to 64 for four years. Eight out of every 100 had small strokes that caused no symptoms.
These silent strokes happen when blood flow gets disrupted in the small blood vessels that go to areas deep in the brain.
"[The strokes] can be small enough so that they don't cause any symptoms. And they can be in areas of the brain we call silent areas, which aren't areas that perform any meaningful functions, like moving extremities, or balance and so forth," explains Dr. Brillman.
The chance of this kind of stroke was 60 percent higher for people with high blood pressure. Other risk factors include smoking, heart disease and diabetes.
Preventing a silent stroke is no different from preventing a stroke with symptoms.
"Careful control of blood pressure, watch your weight, exercise, control your diabetes, don't smoke," Dr. Brillman recommends.
People with silent strokes are at higher risk for more strokes, and a faster decline of memory and thinking.
If enough silent strokes build up, brain tissue gets destroyed, and people can have symptoms similar to Alzheimer's disease, KCNC-TV reports.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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