Understanding Stroke
Are You At Risk?
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StrokeSense : Are You At Risk?

The Roles of Age and Heredity

Are You At Risk?

Questions to Ask Your Physician

The Roles of Age and Heredity

Type 2 Diabetes

High Blood Pressure

Heart Disease

Smoking

Obesity

Inactivity

Poor Diet

High Triglyceride/ Cholesterol Levels

Excessive Alcohol Consumption

Substance Abuse

Self-Monitoring Your Condition

Age, gender, and heredity (including race) have major impacts on stroke risk.

  • As people age, their chances of suffering an ischemic stroke increase dramatically.
  • Men have a higher ischemic stroke risk than women.
  • If your family has a history of ischemic stroke, youre more likely to experience one.
  • Ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke risk is higher for African Americans, who suffer stroke at nearly double the rate of whites. African Americans also are twice as likely to die of the disease. African Americans have a higher incidence of such inherited diseases as diabetes and sickle-cell anemia, which increase stroke risk.
  • Hemophilia, a genetic disease that makes it more difficult for blood to clot, increases hemorrhagic stroke risk in men (hemophilia is a disease that affects far more men than women).

Reference

Source of Material: RockHill Communications, 14 Rock Hill Road Bala, Cynwyd, PA 19004, (610) 667-2040,
Writer: Christine Norris
Editors: Erin Murphy, Andrea King, Joanne Poeggel, Ron Wozny
Clinical Reviewer: Patt Panzer, M.D.
Date Written: 4/30/01
Last Revised: 4/3/03