WOMEN FACE HIGHER RISK OF STROKE NEW GUIDELINE OFFERS WAYS TO LOWER YOUR RISK WOMEN HAVE MORE STROKES THAN MEN, AND STROKE KILLS MORE WOMEN THAN MEN. Talk to your healthcare provider about how to lower your risk, using the below Information from the new American Heart Association/American Stroke Association prevention guidelines. Stroke RISK GOES UP due to ... Heart Stroke Association I Association • Together to End Stroke™ 9 m 9 e m 1 in 5 WOMEN has a STROKE at some point In her life LOWER YOUR RISK or stroke b © PREGNANCY 4. About 3 out of 10,000 pregnant women have a stroke during pregnancy compared to 2 out of 10,000 young women who are not pregnant. Pregnant women with very high blood pressure should be treated with sate blood pressure medications. 11^ PREECLAMPSIA This is a term for high blood pressure that develops during pregnancy, and it doubles the risk of stroke later in lite. Talk to your healthcare provider about whether you should follow the guideline recommendation of low-dose aspirin starting in the second trimester (week 12) to lower preeciampsia risk. <%> BIRTH CONTROL PILLS May double the risk of stroke, especially in women with high blood pressure. Women should be screened tor high blood pressure before taking birth control pills. Women should not smoke, and they should also be aware that smoking and the use of oral contraceptives increases the risk of stroke, HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY Once thought to lower stroke risk, this in tact increases the risk. Hormone replacement therapy should not be used to prevent stroke in postmenopausal women. MIGRAINES WITH AURA + SMOKING Strokes are more common in women with migraines with aura who also smoke. Smokers who have migraines with aura should quit to avoid higher stroke risk. ATRIAL FIBRILLATION Quadruples stroke risk and is more common in women than men after age 75. All women over age 75 should be screened tor atrial tibrillatlon. STROKE BY THE NUMBERS " STROKE iSTHE ^ #o #i cause of cause of j DEATJ1 DEATH t . In Women > in Men Number of STROKE DEATHS IN ONE YEAR d> Women 77,109 Men 52,367 f'f About 55,000 more women than men have a stroke each year. I HI r ii 1 11 Do you know how to identify a stroke and when emergency heip is needed? Learn how to spot a stroke F.A.S.T. at StrokeAssociation.org/warningslgns (from 2010, the most recent year the statistics are available) r L ©2014, American Head Association. DS77?.T2/14