Tag Archives: stroke risk

Tips for Reducing Your Stroke Risk

A stroke can strike at any age — it isn’t just a problem for senior citizens. Women between the ages of forty-five and fifty-four are at especially high risk of a stroke. What can you do to protect yourself? Here are some tips from the American Stroke Association. Manage blood pressure. High blood pressure encourages plaque build-up… plaque can form clots that cause stroke. Get your blood pressure levels checked at least every other year. Manage cholesterol. High cholesterol also encourages plaque build-up… plaque can form clots. Get your cholesterol levels checked at least every five years. Quit smoking! Lighting … Continue reading →

Middle-Aged Women and Stroke

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 … Continue reading →

Migraines during Pregnancy can Increase Stroke Risk

A study from Duke University Medical Center looked at the connection between migraines during pregnancy and an increased risk of heart attack or stroke. Study authors started with the assumption that women who have migraines tend to also have vascular disease. And if you are at risk for one (migraines) or the other (cardiovascular disease), then you should be working to modify, control, or reduce your risk factors while pregnant. The study looked at pregnancy discharge data for nearly seventeen million American women over a four year period (2000-2003). Out of those seventeen million women, nearly thirty-four thousand women had … Continue reading →