That headline is misleading. A stroke usually does not give a reliable set of warnings exactly one month beforehand. Some people do experience warning symptoms, particularly a transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a “mini-stroke,” but these symptoms can occur minutes, hours, or days before a major stroke—not according to a predictable one-month timeline.
Symptoms that should never be ignored
Possible stroke/TIA symptoms can include:
- Sudden weakness or numbness, especially on one side of the body
- Sudden difficulty speaking or understanding speech
- Sudden facial drooping
- Sudden vision loss or double vision
- Sudden dizziness, loss of balance, or difficulty walking
- Sudden severe headache with no obvious cause
- Sudden confusion or unusual difficulty thinking
A useful way to remember the major warning signs is FAST:
F — Face: Does one side of the face droop?
A — Arms: Is one arm weak or numb?
S — Speech: Is speech slurred or strange?
T — Time: Call emergency services immediately.
Even if symptoms disappear after a few minutes, they could represent a TIA and still require urgent medical assessment. Don’t wait for symptoms to return or try to predict when a stroke might happen.
If someone is experiencing possible stroke symptoms right now, treat it as an emergency.
