Stroke? What next?

[jkrishna]

BACKGROUND: On 9/17, my father felt a numbness on the right side of his body - mouth felt a "pull" & he had difficulty signing. He had an aspirin & went to a doc who said it was TIA. But the symptoms did not disappear in 24hrs.It is now 2 weeks; he is fine but still has difficulty signing. He met a neurosurgeon the next day who asked him to undergo tests. Here are some results:
ECG: "aortic valve sclerotic"
HOMOCYSTEINE: 65 (recommended <13)
CT SCAN: "Focal low attenuation in the left thalamus".
MRI: My father felt a pain in his neck when he was strapped;also claustrophobic, so did not take an MRI.
DOPPLER TEST: nothing unusual

LIFESTYLE :
No smoking/drinking, vegetarian. Age, 58. Has had high blood pressure for 20yrs,controlled by medicaiton. Diet quite balanced. Smoked for 5-6 yrs; stopped about 30 yrs back. Works in a desk job, not much exercise. Drinks 5-8 small cups of coffee. He had a similar numbness about 10yrs back, but tests revealed nothing. Family-mother had a stroke.

Doctor's diagnosis:
Acc to the neuro-surgeon, the high homocysteine caused a minor stroke. He has prescribed vitamin b, folic acid and plagril (pill with aspirin) for life.

My questions:
*Is the diagnonsis conclusive enough?
*Is high homocysteine a cause/symptom/fall out of a stroke?
*What is the risk of recurrence, given he's now on aspirin for life?
*He often has ulcers in his mouth;is it ok for him to be on aspirin?
*He now walks 30 min and has cut coffee.Is this enough?
*Any other tests he shd undergo?
*Is it ok to start driving so soon?
Appreciate your advise!!

[jkrishna]

Between, thank you very much for your kind words and advise regarding posting it in the Neurology forum. I posted it in the Neurology-General forum, then realized its the Neurology & Neurosurgery forum that you meant! They've reached their limit for the day, so will keep checking and post when I can.

Tressa, Thanks for the reassurance regarding TMG. We're thinking of waiting for a couple of weeks and testing the homocysteine level again. If it doesn't go down by then, will check with the doctor regarding TMG, given his history of blood pressure.
Thanks once again!

[Tressa999]

No, TMG is very safe.  You can read about it through many sources, but the Life Extension Foundation website is very clear and good reading.

[Between]

Hi Jkrishna,
Sorry to hear about your dad, believe me I understand. You may also want to post in the forum for neurology. A neurologist from the Cleveland Clinic answers them post questions.

[jkrishna]

Hi Tressa,
Thank you very much for your note. Frankly I've never heard of TMG, so will try to read up more and gather info. But are there any side effects of it, or any conditions which might make it risky? Anyway, will read about this and check with his physician.
Thanks once again!

[Tressa999]

If the B vitamins don't bring his homocystein down, try TMG.  Life Extension Magazine just had an article titled "When Homocystein Won't Come Down."