Am I at Risk for a Stroke?

Everyone has some risk for stroke. Many risk factors are preventable or can be controlled. But a few stroke risk factors are beyond your control.

Risk Factors for stroke:

• Increasing age - People over age 55 are at greater risk of a stroke.
• Gender - More men than women have strokes in certain age groups, but more women actually die from stroke.
• Race - African-Americans and Hispanics have a higher risk of death and disability from stroke.
• Diabetes - If you are diabetic, follow your doctor's recommendations.
• Heredity - A family history of stroke can increase your risk.
• Previous Stroke - History of a previous stroke may increase stroke risk by up to 10 times.
• Previous episode of Transient Ischemic Attack or TIA ("mini-stroke")
• High cholesterol
• High Blood Pressure (hypertension)
• Heart Disease
• Atrial Fibrillation and Carotid Artery Disease - An abnormal heart rate or rhythm. This type of irregular heartbeat occurs for 15 percent of all strokes.

If you have one of these risk factors, it is even more important that you learn about the lifestyle changes you can make to prevent a stroke.

Lifestyle risk factors for stroke include:

• Smoking
• Overweight or obesity
• Physical inactivity
• Heavy drinking
• Excessive stress

You can control these lifestyle risk factors by quitting smoking, exercising regularly, watching what and how much you eat, and limiting alcohol consumption.

Click on Stroke Prevention for more information.

Call 1-866-88-STROKE for more information.

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