I asked my not so good doctor if heat stroke was comparable to a general stroke and got a not so good answer.

Not so simple to dig up a direct answer, I thought I'd ask the brain trust here for guidance.

Can a heat stroke produce similar brain damage to standard strokes? I recently had either a TIA or small stroke, an MRI shows some evidence of a little (I think) damage. I can't get into a neurologist until the end of the month so will hopefully know more then.

A bunch of typical tests looking to see if some clot was thrown, so far inconclusive. I do know over the last few years I've pushed WAY too hard a few times in very hot weather and experienced some disturbing reactions. Never so bad I stopped sweating or passed out but, yeah, disturbing. No way now of knowing how long that damage from the MRI has been there.

You can sit down and try to make convoluted arguments and far fetching connections, but the bottom line is that heat stroke has nothing to do with the "standard" stroke.

Btw, if you truly have heat stroke, yes heat stroke, not heat stress or heat exhaustion, you will die without medical intervention. With the "standard" stroke, you may or may not die.

Any history of hypertension or atrial-fib? Heat stroke and a tia are two different things unfortunately.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
You can sit down and try to make convoluted arguments and far fetching connections, but the bottom line is that heat stroke has nothing to do with the "standard" stroke.

Btw, if you truly have heat stroke, yes heat stroke, not heat stress or heat exhaustion, you will die without medical intervention. With the "standard" stroke, you may or may not die.

Thanks, more info than the doc offered. I had a very pronounced double vision incident recently, lasted a couple minutes and tapered back to normal. The wife got on the interwebs and found the TIA possibility and demanded a trip to the doctor. So tests ordered, awaiting a full read on the situation.

call the neuro back and tell them your ER doc said to have you followed up quickly...

I had a torn artery that threw my clot and the ER missed it....it took 4 days in the hospital until they found the blocked artery (have no idea how I survived)

Then two years later I had a seizure across my old brain injury and had the same stroke symptoms.


PLEASE tell me they put you on aspirin or warfarin to prevent another clot.

quote:

Originally posted by patw:
Any history of hypertension or atrial-fib? Heat stroke and a tia are two different things unfortunately.

Blood pressure a little high, a low dose of Enalapril manages it very well. As 12131 points out, I've surely experienced heat stress or exhaustion a few times. Good to know "frying one's brain" is just an expression.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
PLEASE tell me they put you on aspirin or warfarin to prevent another clot.

On a full size aspirin.

There are two main types of "real" strokes. The more common is a embolic (or "dry") stroke. This occurs when a small clot of blood embolizes and blocks a blood vessel in the brain. A hemorrhagic stroke ("wet") occurs when a blood vessel ruptures (like from an aneurysm). The symptoms of both are very dependent on several factors. As a general rule, hemorrhagic strokes are worse than embolic ones.

Why heat stroke is called "stroke" I don't know. The mechanism of brain (and other vital organ damage) is due to the severe elevated body temperature and the damage at a cellular and metabolic level. That being said, heat stroke can also severely damage the brain. If not treated immediately, the mortality can be as high as 80%

Hope that helps. Tried to keep it layperson friendly!

quote:

Originally posted by DitchDoctor911:
There are two main types of "real" strokes. The more common is a embolic (or "dry") stroke. This occurs when a small clot of blood embolizes and blocks a blood vessel in the brain. A hemorrhagic stroke ("wet") occurs when a blood vessel ruptures (like from an aneurysm). The symptoms of both are very dependent on several factors. As a general rule, hemorrhagic strokes are worse than embolic ones.

Why heat stroke is called "stroke" I don't know. The mechanism of brain (and other vital organ damage) is due to the severe elevated body temperature and the damage at a cellular and metabolic level. That being said, heat stroke can also severely damage the brain. If not treated immediately, the mortality can be as high as 80%

Hope that helps. Tried to keep it layperson friendly!

Thanks!

Ripley
Friendly Layperson

quote:

Originally posted by Ripley:
Thanks, more info than the doc offered.

Reminds me of the old joke. What do they call the guy who graduated last in his class in Medical School?



Doctor.

I hope you find more competent help.

I had a school friend die of heat stroke. He was at Basic Training at Fort Jackson. He was found unconscious. Thinking is he had a fever, but didn't want to report it and continued with training. He lingered for about a week while his family watched his organs fail. He was able to make amends with his father before he passed. They had been somewhat estranged. So in that way I see where its akin to a stroke stroke.

Ripley back in 2006 I had 3 TIA episodes.

The first caused my left leg to go so numb that I could have put a cigar out on it anywhere from hip down and not feel it. Oddly enough I did retain enough muscular control to walk slowly if I was careful. Lasted about 1 1/2 minutes and feeling returned in a slight slow gain that lasted maybe two minutes.

The second and third attacks were identical in all ways expect for the duration. With these attacks I lost all vision in my right eye. If I held my hand over the left eye I couldn't see a thin and my right eye was "showing" just a solid light gray which was likely how my brain was reacting to no input. First time lasted about a minute and the second lasted for nearly two minutes. Note, these happened about 3 weeks apart.

After the third attack I saw my doctor about what was going on and was sent directly to the hospital for tests. In my case it was sonographs of the heart and carotid arteries plus blood and urine tests. All tests were inconclusive so don't be shocked if you have that happen with your tests. Long term effects were none, which is good news for my.

Treatment was initially a blood thinner but since I do like to work with my hands the bleeding got to be a total PIA. So I asked my doctor if I could change to low dose aspirin and he said go ahead and try it but return immediately if I had another attack. Using aspirin has resulted in no attacks in the past 11 years. BTW, still bleed a bit due to the aspirin but it's only about 10-15% of what would happen if I nicked myself when I was using Coumadin.

PS; In 2015 I started doing regular cardio and have increased my HDL by over 20 points. With this gain my doctor feels I may have reduced my chances of another TIA by a bunch. So don't overlook the benefits of regular exercise, when we get older being as fit as we can be results in a fuller and longer life.

The term "stroke" in heat stroke has nothing to do with the type of stroke common to blood clots/aneurysm in brain injuries.

Heat stroke is a very serious condition. True heat stroke and not heat exhaustion will kill you if not treated quickly. Knowing nothing but the little you posted I will guess you have not suffered from heat stroke.

I would guess maybe dehydration and some heat exhausting but not full-blown heat stroke.

FWIW I am not a doctor. I have and do spend a decent amount of time outdoors and used to teach many classes that included evaluation and treating heat exhaustion and heat stroke. I've seen heat exhaustion a few times but never heat stroke.

Again this is an entirely different animal than the traditional type of stroke you're thinking of.

The only real connection I can think of between heat stroke and a "regular" stroke is damage to the brain, that's really it.


You have to really try to get heat stroke, meaning severe prolonged exposure to very hot conditions. Most people realize something is wrong and either remove themselves from the environment or seek medical treatment before reaching true heat stroke.

Thanks, all. Scooter123, I do work out pretty much every day. I don't push real hard but feel I'm in reasonable shape for my age - 67.

quote:

Originally posted by jigray3:

I hope you find more competent help.

I've got an odd primary care doc. Her bedside manner is lacking, seems generally capable but there are times I wonder, seems to like me and I've come to terms with dealing with her. Most importantly, she's part of a wonderful hospital system I've dealt with for over twenty years. I've never felt disappointed in any dealings with them.