Cooper was lucky. He had no residual symptoms and started medication to prevent a future stroke. And though he chose to retire early due to the high risk of having a full-blown stroke, he has never had one. Nearly 16 years later, Cooper is living a happy and healthy life.
Unfortunately, not every stroke story unfolds in this manner. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), without treatment, more than a third of people who have a TIA end up having a major stroke within one year. Ten to 15 percent of those occur within three months of a TIA.
Strokes are deadly. In fact, they are the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States. About 800,000 Americans suffer strokes each year. And one American will die from a stroke every four minutes, according to the CDC.
The question is: What causes a stroke? Strokes are often caused by a lack of oxygen to the brain. If something interrupts blood flow, brain cells start to die within minutes because they can’t get oxygen. And sudden bleeding in the brain can cause a stroke if it damages brain cells.
Strokes can cause lasting brain damage, long-term disability or even death. If a stroke kills or damages brain cells, symptoms of that damage start to show in the parts of the body controlled by those brain cells. A stroke's damage may be irreversible.
Three different conditions result in strokes. The first and most common type of stroke is an ischemic stroke. These are usually caused by blood clots and account for about 85 percent of stroke cases. The brain is deprived of oxygen-rich blood through its main artery.