Why Do Women Have More Strokes Than Men?

Each year, around 55,000 more women than men will have a stroke. Longer lifespans, pregnancies and hormones all contribute to the disparity, as do illnesses that tend to strike women more frequently. An associate professor of neurology at Saint Louis University says that one reason that stroke affects more women is simply because they live longer than men. The risk of stroke rises with age, and the longer a woman lives, the higher her risk for stroke. Other factors are tied to increased risk during pregnancy and from hormones. Eclampsia or pre-eclampsia during pregnancy contributes to a higher risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension) later in life. Hypertension is one of the most significant risk factors for stroke. In addition, women are more frequently diagnosed with certain health conditions that are associated with stroke, such as migraines and lupus. Migraines, for instance, are linked to increased stroke risk. Inflammatory auto-immune diseases like lupus create an increased risk for blood clots, leading to a higher stroke risk. Though managing stroke risk will vary from person to person, according to researchers, using these six steps are a good starting point to reduce your risk: stop smoking, manage high blood pressure, know your individual risk, monitor during pregnancy, monitor and offset risk if taking hormones and act immediately if someone nearby shows signs of a stroke. To read more, click here.