The people should take cue from the mini-strokes that a major stroke is likely to follow them, sputtered a study conducted by British researchers on Monday. The study made public that the mini strokes should be taken as warning and a proper medical care should be taken for an effective treatment.

The study that appeared in the journal Neurology, advised the doctors to act more brusquely in examining the symptoms of a mini-stroke.

These mini-strokes are known as transient ischemic attacks or TIAs and, like major strokes; they have symptoms such as nausea, a sudden loss of balance or consciousness, or vision disturbances. But these symptoms last just for a few minutes.

Dr. Peter Rothwell, a neurologist at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, Britain, let out, "We have known for some time that TIAs are often a precursor to a major stroke. What we haven't been able to determine is how urgently patients must be assessed following a TIA in order to receive the most effective preventive treatment. This study indicates that the timing of a TIA is critical, and the most effective treatments should be initiated within hours of a TIA in order to prevent a major attack."

Rothwell and colleagues studied 2,416 people who had ischemic strokes -- major strokes caused by a blockage of an artery in the brain. About 80 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes. The rest are hemorrhagic strokes, caused by a broken blood vessel. The researchers found that 549 of the stroke patients had experienced a TIA.

Rothwell's team penned in their report, "Where a preceding TIA had occurred, the timing was highly consistent across the studies, with 17 percent occurring on the day of the stroke, 9 percent on the previous day, and 43 percent at some point during the 7 days prior to the stroke,"

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke articulated that about a third of patients who had a TIA would get a bigger stroke at some point.