Transient ischemic attack or TIA has similar symptoms like that of a heart attack but only lasts for a few minutes. Although transient ischemic attack does not cause any enduring damage, the symptoms can be threatening. It is also known as a mini stroke, but a transient ischemic attack can be an alarm that a person needs to be aware of the underlying health condition. If a person experiences a transient ischemic attack, it is advisable to consult a doctor and seek medical help immediately.

In order to understand the transient ischemic attack, we first need to look into the causes of the same.

Causes of transient ischemic attack
One of the main causes of transient ischemic attack is the blood clot that temporarily blocks the passage of blood to the brain. Also, blood clots can form due to a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are:

A damage in the arteries
Blood clots can be formed due to any damage in the arteries that supply blood to the brain. A process known as atherosclerosis builds up a plaque that damages the arteries thereby forming blood clots. Also, high blood pressure is another reason that leads to plaque buildup and forms the arteries to get damaged.

Diabetes may damage the blood vessels
It is seen that persistent high blood pressure and high blood sugar leads to the damage in the smaller blood vessels in the brain. This damage leads to the formation of blood clots, which is one of the main causes of transient ischemic attack. These blood clots block the blood flow to the brain and result in a transient ischemic attack.

There are cases where it has been found that a blood clot can be formed in any part of the body, for instance, the heart and travels to the brain through the bloodstream of an artery.

Post heart attack, blood clots can form in the arteries leading to another mini stroke or transient ischemic attack

There are other reasons that affect the flow of blood to the artery, and these are:

• Atrial fibrillation
• Atrial septal defects
• Heart failure