We rush in every direction: work, family, commitments… And we often put our health on the back burner. However, our bodies try to warn us long before things get worse. Sometimes subtly. Sometimes more sincerely. Until the day we can no longer ignore the signs.

I had a mild stroke—a microstroke—and I’m sharing this experience not to raise concern, but to raise awareness. Because if we learn to recognize the warning signs, we can act in time.

But first of all, what is a stroke?

A stroke occurs when blood flow to a part of the brain is interrupted. Without oxygen, brain cells begin to die. The consequences can be serious: speech impairment, memory loss, paralysis, and more.

The most common cause is thrombosis: a blood clot that blocks a blood vessel. This can be caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, a sedentary lifestyle, certain hormone treatments, or simply vascular aging.

Here are the 4 signals my body sent me… and I took them lightly