Women More at Risk for Having a Stroke Than Men

Women are more at risk for stroke than men.

Observing National Stroke Awareness Month this May, Dawn Warner Kershner, D.O., MPH, a board-certified cardiologist with The Heart Center at Mercy, explained that the chances for a stroke increase the older a person is.

According to Dr. Kershner, hormones may be part of the reason women are at a higher risk, and strokes are preventable, so people need to know the risk factors.

"The more common risk factors are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, sedentary lifestyle," Dr. Kershner said. "But we've come to learn that there are more novel risk factors that affect younger women even more than older women, (including) migraines, premature ovarian failure and endometriosis. So, if you can identify these women at a younger age, work on the risk factors, you can prevent a stroke at a later age."

Dr. Kershner recommends living a healthy lifestyle by both being active and eating a mainly Mediterranean diet. 

View Mercy cardiologist Dr. Dawn Kershner’s interview regarding women and stroke.