You’re probably familiar with common stroke symptoms — difficulty speaking, seeing, walking, and numbness on one side of the body. These are all obvious signs, enabling you to quickly get the help you need.

However, it’s possible to have a stroke and not even know it or remember it happening. Silent cerebral infarction (SCI) and Transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a “mild stroke” that causes brain damage and can to a more severe stroke down the road, possibly within the next year.

Mild strokes (also called “silent strokes” or “mini strokes”) are much more common than other recognizable types of strokes. The Rotterdam Scan Study found that 25% of brain scans done on 1,077 elderly patients had signs of a stroke, with 80% of those patients not knowing they had suffered one.

In population-based studies, silent stroke symptoms (silent brain infarcts) on MRIs have shown the following prevalence:

8% to 31% for white, Black, and Japanese populations
10.7% to 84% for those aged 53–71 years
An increased risk for men and younger Black populations
Canadian researchers have discovered that mild strokes are “common in seniors after they have elective, non-cardiac surgery” which leads to a doubled “risk of cognitive decline one year later.”

How a Mild Stroke Differs
Just as with other types of strokes, a mild stroke occurs when the blood supply is cut off to part of your brain. The difference is that the part of your brain affected by a mild stroke is too small to hamper the control of your vital brain functions, so symptoms may go unnoticed or be blamed on other health or mental conditions.

Most people won’t positively know that they’ve had a mild stroke without an MRI or CT scan picking up on affected small blood vessels, changes in white matter, or lesions.

Still, the signs and symptoms of a mild stroke shouldn’t be ignored.

A mild stroke does kill brain cells and tissue and should be caught in order to treat symptoms and prevent another stroke from taking place. It’s not uncommon to suffer several mild strokes before noticing a cumulative neurological effect, even vascular (post-stroke) dementia. In fact, up to one-third of those who suffer from a stroke develop dementia within six months.

The Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi urges residents to look for mini stroke warning signals.

Why? Because “while the global average age of a stroke victim is over 65, the average age in the UAE is younger due to the high prevalence of risk factors such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Half of all stroke patients in the country are under the age of 45.”

So, what are the signs and symptoms of a mild stroke? Here’s what might tip you off to the root cause of your symptoms.

The Most Common Signs and Symptoms of a Mild Stroke