Anything BUT a Stroke of Luck
Did you know that stroke symptoms are different for women than they are for men? Similarities do exist, such as the sudden weakness/numbness, confusion, or trouble seeing, walking and coordination or a sudden pounding headache. But there are symptoms that manifest themselves only in women. Women may experience a sudden onset of the following symptoms with no logical explanation:
- Face and limb pain
- Hiccups
- Nausea
- General weakness
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Palpitations
Mostly these exist because of the risk factors also unique to women. In addition to smoking, heart disease and high cholesterol to name a few, women are also at risk from the following factors:
- Birth control pills
- Pregnancy
- Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)
- Thickened waist combined with high triglycerides particularly in post-menopausal women who have a waist larger than 35.2 inches.
- Suffering from migraines, as migraines in women can increase a woman`s risk 3-6 times.
According to Dr. Dawn Kleindorfer, an assistant professor of neurology at the University Of Cincinnati School Of Medicine ``Stroke uniquely impacts women because they tend to be older when they have their stroke and because of that, more women die from stroke than men. Women tend to have more disability and have trouble doing the activities of their daily living after their stroke.``
A stroke will affect 4 out of 5 families over the course of a lifetime and according to the CDC roughly 55`000 more women than men in the U.S. will suffer a stroke. For those families affected by stroke, 59-75% of women are the caregivers for these family members, putting them at additional risk for stroke themselves. To find out if you`re at risk talk to your healthcare professional and to learn more about women`s risk of stroke, donate, or volunteer, please visit:www.thegoddessfund.org/index.html
