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Understanding Risk Banner
Power To End Stroke
Power To End Stroke

You have the Power To End Stroke, join the movement now!

How Cardiovascular & Stroke Risks Relate
Both coronary heart disease and stroke share many of the same risk factors such as cholesterol disorders, high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, physical inactivity, and being overweight or obese.

Controlling Risky Conditions
Learn more about how many conditions contributing to the risk of stroke or recurrent stroke can be controlled.

Stroke Risk for African Americans
Heart disease and stroke are major health risks for all people. But African Americans are at particularly high risk.

Stroke Among Hispanics
Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death among Hispanics. One study found that hemorrhagic strokes occurred more commonly in Hispanics than in any other subgroup.

Hidden Risk Factors for Women
This year, more than 100,000 U.S. women under age 65 will have a stroke. Stroke is not a geriatric disease. And it's not confined to elderly overweight smokers who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.
 
Stroke Risk Factors

  • Age — The chance of having a stroke approximately doubles for each decade of life after age 55. While stroke is common among the elderly, a lot of people under 65 also have strokes.
  • Heredity (family history) — Your stroke risk is greater if a parent, grandparent, sister or brother has had a stroke. Some strokes may be symptoms of genetic disorders like CADASIL (Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Sub-cortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy), which is caused by a gene mutation that leads to damage of blood vessel walls in the brain, blocking blood flow. Most individuals with CADASIL have a family history of the disorder — each child of a CADASIL parent has a 50% chance of inheriting the disease. Visit the NINDS website or read the AHA/ASA scientific statement on this topic for more details about CADASIL. 
  • Race — African Americans have a much higher risk of death from a stroke than Caucasians do. This is partly because blacks have higher risks of high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
  • Sex (gender) — Stroke is more common in men than in women. In most age groups, more men than women will have a stroke in a given year. However, more than half of total stroke deaths occur in women.  At all ages, more women than men die of stroke. Use of birth control pills and pregnancy pose special stroke risks for women.
  • Prior stroke, TIA or heart attack — The risk of stroke for someone who has already had one is many times that of a person who has not. Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) are "warning strokes" that produce stroke-like symptoms but no lasting damage. TIAs are strong predictors of stroke. A person who's had one or more TIAs is almost 10 times more likely to have a stroke than someone of the same age and sex who hasn't. Recognizing and treating TIAs can reduce your risk of a major stroke. TIA should be considered a medical emergency and followed up immediately with a healthcare professional. If you've had a heart attack, you're at higher risk of having a stroke, too.