h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've actually been 4 years since I last submitted something to PR, and now I've done it again. I'm back where I was before, clicking on 'refresh' obsessively.

It's an article on TIAs, I do the TIA clinic at work, and it's related to the PhD I'll be doing, so I sort of feel qualified to write about it.

Here's the thread if anyone wants to take a look.

F48874?thread=7293955

Mother was diagnosed with TIAs years ago, before Dad died. The thing is, she wasn't given any of the three tests you listed. I'm not saying she didn't have TIAs, I'm just wondering how they knew.

She was prescribed Plavix, which she has taken ever since. Over 10 years. She has never had another one, so it seems to have worked. The thing is, TIAs aren't one of the things listed as uses for Plavix. It's expensive and I hope she hasn't been spending money needlessly all these years.

Also, has anyone linked TIAs to vascular dementia?

In PR twice in minutes!

TIAs are a clinical diagnosis - you don't need tests to make the diagnosis. You do the tests to work out if there is anything else causing the symptoms. The agressive treatment of TIAs is really something that we've only started doing in the few years. When we realised that treating TIAs early would prevent stroke.

Plavix - Clopidogrel, is used as an alternative to Apsirin, though we tend to use Apsirin as it's a lot cheaper, but some people find it causes stomach upsets and can't take Aspirin.

Yes, TIAs represent cerebro-vascular disease, so they would put one at a higher risk of vascular dementia. There is a hypothesis (to be explored by me in a PhD shortly!) that they are linked in a more direct way. But I'll keep you posted on that.