sexes, others are more relevant in women:

Family history - If your parents or siblings suffered a stroke, you are at twice the risk of having one too. There's little you can do about it yourself, but knowing that your genes predispose you should be a motivation to deal with the other stroke risk factors that you can do something about.

High blood pressure - This is the single most important contributor to stroke in both sexes. Other risks that should be monitored include elevated cholesterol, diabete

It comes as a surprise to most people that stroke (like a heart attack) is not exclusively a disease of men. In fact, it's the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of serious, long-term disability in American women. More than half of the 700,000 strokes every year in this country occur in women, and more than 100,000 of them die as a result.

Many doctors still don't take cardiovascular disease heart attack and stroke in women very seriously because it is so uncommon during the reproductive years. That’s probably due to the plentiful supply of female hormone (estrogen) that the ovaries make before menopause.

What is a Stroke?

Stroke refers to brain damage resulting from the interruption of its blood supply. In 88% of cases, the stroke is when a clot suddenly obstructs an artery in the brain. Clots can form in the arteries when plaques that have built up within them for months or years suddenly rupture. A dot may either originate in a brain artery or travel there from elsewhere in the body, for example, from the carotid arteries in the neck or from the heart during a rhythm disorder called atril fibrillation.

Bleeding within the brain is the second, much less common, form of stroke. A hemorrhage most often results from the rupture of one of the brain's arteries or after an injury to the head. Hemorrhage strokes are more common in women than in men.

Whether due to a clot or bleeding, the symptoms of a stroke are similar in both sexes. When they clear up within 24 hours (usually sooner), we call it a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, rather than a stroke. But don't dismiss a TIA simply because its symptoms are short-lived. It's an emergency a warning that a full-blown stroke may be on the way.

Be aware of these risk factors for stroke.

The risk factors that predispose both sexes to a stroke sow their seeds early in life. To reduce your vulnerability, that's when you should control them. Here are the more important risk factors and how they can be minimized - some are common to both sexes, others are more relevant in women:

Family history - If your parents or siblings suffered a stroke, you are at twice the risk of having one too. There's little you can do about it yourself, but knowing that your genes predispose you should be a motivation to deal with the other stroke risk factors that you can do something about.

High blood pressure - This is the single most important contributor to stroke in both sexes. Other risks that should be monitored include elevated cholesterol, diabetes

s. That’s probably due to the plentiful supply of female hormone (estrogen) that the ovaries make before menopause.

What is a Stroke?

Stroke refers to brain damage resulting from the interruption of its blood supply. In 88% of cases, the stroke is when a clot suddenly obstructs an artery in the brain. Clots can form in the arteries when plaques that have built up within them for months or years suddenly rupture. A dot may either originate in a brain artery or travel there from elsewhere in the body, for example, from the carotid arteries in the neck or from the heart during a rhythm disorder called atril fibrillation.

Bleeding within the brain is the second, much less common, form of stroke. A hemorrhage most often results from the rupture of one of the brain's arteries or after an injury to the head. Hemorrhage strokes are more common in women than in men.

Whether due to a clot or bleeding, the symptoms of a stroke are similar in both sexes. When they clear up within 24 hours (usually sooner), we call it a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, rather than a stroke. But don't dismiss a TIA simply because its symptoms are short-lived. It's an emergency a warning that a full-blown stroke may be on the way.

Be aware of these risk factors for stroke.

The risk factors that predispose both sexes to a stroke sow their seeds early in life. To reduce your vulnerability, that's when you should control them. Here are the more important risk factors and how they can be minimized - some are common to both sexes, others are more relevant in women:

Family history - If your parents or siblings suffered a stroke, you are at twice the risk of having one too. There's little you can do about it yourself, but knowing that your genes predispose you should be a motivation to deal with the other stroke risk factors that you can do something about.

High blood pressure - This is the single most important contributor to stroke in both sexes. Other risks that should be monitored include elevated cholesterol, diabete

for example, from the carotid arteries in the neck or from the heart during a rhythm disorder called atril fibrillation.

Bleeding within the brain is the second, much less common, form of stroke. A hemorrhage most often results from the rupture of one of the brain's arteries or after an injury to the head. Hemorrhage strokes are more common in women than in men.

Whether due to a clot or bleeding, the symptoms of a stroke are similar in both sexes. When they clear up within 24 hours (usually sooner), we call it a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, rather than a stroke. But don't dismiss a TIA simply because its symptoms are short-lived. It's an emergency a warning that a full-blown stroke may be on the way.

Be aware of these risk factors for stroke.

The risk factors that predispose both sexes to a stroke sow their seeds early in life. To reduce your vulnerability, that's when you should control them. Here are the more important risk factors and how they can be minimized - some are common to both sexes, others are more relevant in women:

Family history - If your parents or siblings suffered a stroke, you are at twice the risk of having one too. There's little you can do about it yourself, but knowing that your genes predispose you should be a motivation to deal with the other stroke risk factors that you can do something about.

High blood pressure - This is the single most important contributor to stroke in both sexes. Other risks that should be monitored include elevated cholesterol, diabete

we call it a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, rather than a stroke. But don't dismiss a TIA simply because its symptoms are short-lived. It's an emergency a warning that a full-blown stroke may be on the way.

Be aware of these risk factors for stroke.

The risk factors that predispose both sexes to a stroke sow their seeds early in life. To reduce your vulnerability, that's when you should control them. Here are the more important risk factors and how they can be minimized - some are common to both sexes, others are more relevant in women:

Family history - If your parents or siblings suffered a stroke, you are at twice the risk of having one too. There's little you can do about it yourself, but knowing that your genes predispose you should be a motivation to deal with the other stroke risk factors that you can do something about.

High blood pressure - This is the single most important contributor to stroke in both sexes. Other risks that should be monitored include elevated cholesterol, diabete

sexes, others are more relevant in women:

Family history - If your parents or siblings suffered a stroke, you are at twice the risk of having one too. There's little you can do about it yourself, but knowing that your genes predispose you should be a motivation to deal with the other stroke risk factors that you can do something about.

High blood pressure - This is the single most important contributor to stroke in both sexes. Other risks that should be monitored include elevated cholesterol, diabetes and overweight, each of which should be treated when abnormal, and the sooner, the better. They all can begin early in life and hasten the formation of arterial blockages in the brain.

Cigarettes - Smoking is a major stroke risk factor for both sexes, but women smokers are much more likely to have a stroke than nonsmokers or male smokers. If your husband smokes too, your risk is several times higher. If you don't smoke but he does, your stroke risk still rises.

Pregnancy - Because the blood clots more easily during those nine months, and blood pressure increases some what pregnancy raises the risk of stroke slightly.

Birth-Control pills - Most increase the bloods tendency to clot, especially in women over 35. The newer, lower-dose contraceptive pills are thought to be safer - but only for those not already at increased risk.