Ischemic Stroke Risk Factors
Risk factors are conditions or behaviors that increase your chances of getting a certain disease. Some
stroke risk factors can be treated or controlled and some cannot.
Risk factors for an ischemic stroke that you cannot change include:
- Growing older (risk for an ischemic stroke tends to increase with age)
- Being male (although women are more likely than men to die from an ischemic stroke)
- Being African American
- Having a family history of stroke
- Having a personal history of stroke, TIA, or heart attack.
Some of the most important treatable or controllable risk factors for an ischemic stroke are:
Ischemic
stroke symptoms are very specific to the part of the brain affected by the lack of oxygen or nutrient-rich blood flow. The actual symptoms will depend on the area of the brain that is affected. Common symptoms of an ischemic stroke include:
- Sudden confusion
- Sudden difficulty speaking or understanding speech
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination
- Sudden severe headache with no known cause
- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg (especially on one side of the body).
If you believe someone is having a stroke -- if he or she suddenly loses the ability to speak, cannot move an arm or leg on one side, or experiences facial paralysis on one side -- call 911 immediately.
A stroke is a medical emergency. Every minute counts when someone is having a stroke because the longer blood flow is cut off to the brain, the greater the damage. Immediate treatment can save people's lives and enhance their chances for successful recovery.
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