Medical strokes and cave diving

[Puttzer]

Anyone here know anything about having a small stroke and continuing cave diving?

A reference to a neurologist familiar with this problem would also be appreciated, especially in the Gainesville area.

[tjbald11]

Are you referring to a Transient ischemic attack (TIA) aka a "mini-stroke." Or are you referring to just a minor stroke? And there are a few different kinds of strokes.... Ischemic Stroke (think blood clot), hemorrhagic stroke (think brain bleed), and some other flavors.

I'm not a licensed physician, but I will say that there have been scientific studies done on the use of hyperbaric oxygen treatment to improve outcomes in ischemic strokes, so if it was an ischemic stroke theoretically it could actually help, but I don't believe this has ever been studied with divers and there are other factors to take into consideration. However, it is at least promising information. I would say speaking with a neurologist and dive medicine physician will be your best bet.

Here is an article on a study that talks about hyperbaric oxygen treatment and strokes. There are more out there, but this is an example. Remember there are other health considerations.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0123144218.htm

As for someone who would be familiar with this problem I would absolutely call DAN and ask for a physician referral. They send you a list of all the DAN affiliated physicians who have specific knowledge of dive medicine. I don't know what the list looks like in Gainesville, but there are plenty of doctors out there and one of them might also happen to be a neurologist.
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/me...work/physician

Edit: One more thing to consider. I have no clue what kind of stroke or the severity, but obviously cave diving takes a solid mental capacity, so having neurological testing done would also be needed to make sure there aren't issues with decision making capacity and stuff....