Addressing the risk factors associated with strokes can help prevent their often devastating consequences. Reading area cardiologist William Finneran, III, MD, advises patients to “know your numbers.”
“Pay attention to your blood pressure, waist size, BMI (body mass index), and your cholesterol. Keep those numbers in the healthy range through regular exercise, a healthy diet and not smoking and you’ll minimize your risk of a stroke.”
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According to the
American Heart Association, risk factors for stroke that can't be changed include:
- Age—The chance of having a stroke more than doubles for each decade of life after age 55.
- Heredity (family history) and race—Your stroke risk is greater if a parent, grandparent, sister or brother has had a stroke. African Americans have a much higher risk of death from a stroke than caucasians.
- 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.
- 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. A person who's had one or more transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) is almost 10 times more likely to have a stroke than someone of the same age and sex who hasn't. If you've had a heart attack, you're at higher risk of having a stroke, too.
Stroke risk factors that can be changed, treated or controlled include:
- High blood pressure
- Cigarette smoking
- Diabetes mellitus
- Carotid or other artery disease
- Atrial fibrillation
- Other heart disease
- Sickle cell disease
- High cholesterol
- Poor diet
- Physical inactivity and obesity