According to the American Stroke Association, more than one hundred thousand women in the United States under the age of sixty-five have a stroke each year. Compare that to the approximately 83,000 American women who suffer a heart attack!
Most strokes occur when a clot blocks blood flow to the brain. There is another type of stroke that is comparably rare — a blood vessel in the brain bursting. If you’re going to worry about stroke (and you should), focus your worry on those clots.
More statistics from the American Stroke Association:
- Stroke risk is highest in women between the ages of forty-five and fifty-four — women are more than twice as likely as men to have a stroke.
- Women are more likely than men to end up physically and mentally impaired after a stroke.
- Speed is critical in treating a stroke — a drug known as tPA (tissue plasminogen activator) can help reduce a stroke victim’s chance of death or lifelong disability, but only if administered within the first three hours.
- One out of seven stroke patients has another stroke within a year.
So why doesn’t stroke prevention get as much attention as heart disease prevention? Hopefully it will soon.
Some important signs of stroke risk for women:
- High cholesterol — this can encourage plaque to build up in the arteries… and plaque can become a clot that induces a stroke.
- High blood pressure — this also encourages plaque build up. Most strokes are caused by a clot blocking blood flow to the brain.
- Using birth control — this can double the risk of a stroke.
- Smoking — this can double the risk of a stroke.
- Using hormone therapy to relieve menopause symptoms can slightly increase stroke risk.
- Sleep apnea — this can raise blood pressure during sleep, encouraging plaque build up.
- Migraine with aura — this doubles the risk of stroke in women under fifty-five, though experts aren’t sure why.
- Blood clotting disorders — if you tend to form blood clots (like DVT), you can be at higher risk of stroke.