More Nontraditional Symptoms in Women Experiencing Stroke, TIA

A recent study presented at the American Stroke Association International Stroke Conference 2009 found that women are more likely than men to experience atypical stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) symptoms. For the study, data from 461 cases of stroke and TIA from the University of Michigan Hospital were used, with 48.6 percent being female participants and 51.4 percent being male participants. The study took place from January of 2005 to December of 2007, following a similar study out of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, which took place between February of 1998 and March of 2000. The results of the two studies were similar, with both finding that women were more likely than men to experience nontraditional symptoms of ischemic stroke and TIA, with changes in mental-status occurring significantly more often in women.

According to the American Heart Association, regular stroke symptoms include sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body, sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination and sudden, severe headache with no known cause. Irregular stroke and TIA symptoms found in this study included pain, lightheadedness, headache, mental-status change and neurological and nonneurological symptoms. The study data found that women were 43 percent more likely to report these types of atypical symptoms than men, with 23 percent of women including mental-status change as one of their stroke or TIA symptoms. Only 15 percent of men with stroke or TIA were found to have experienced mental-status change, which includes loss of consciousness, confusion or disorientation. In addition, 51.8 percent of female participants reported that they had experienced at least one nontraditional symptom, while about 44 percent of male participants reported at least one of these symptoms. With this variation in symptoms between men and women, it comes as no shock that there is also a variation in the type of care received when presenting to a doctor or hospital after experiencing a stroke. Previous research has found that women with stroke or TIA wait longer to get to a hospital and experience longer delays than men when they do get to a medical center. In addition, statistics have shown that women are also less likely than men to be given tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), which is a drug that dissolves blood clots and restores blood flow if given within a few hours of the stroke or TIA.

For women or men experiencing a stroke or transient ischemic attack, the faster the treatment, the better the result. If you or a loved one has been the victim of stroke malpractice in New York as a result of a delay in diagnosis or treatment, contact the attorneys at Silberstein, Awad & Miklos, P.C. Our firm serves clients with Brooklyn medical malpractice, Bronx medical malpractice, Manhattan medical malpractice, Queens medical malpractice and Long Island medical malpractice cases. Call today for your free consultation.

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