It's often been thought that stroke symptoms for women (which are in-fact the symptoms for cardiovascular disease in general) were different from those in men. It's now thought that they aren't - it's just that they are "interpretted" differently.
Heart disease and stroke are basically the same problem, but affecting different areas of the body - the exact same mechanism is at work. Heart disease affects the heart, while stroke affects the brain.
So if you take care to live a heart-healthy life, you cover off the risk of stroke as well (that's why it's normally referred to as "heart disease and stroke"). The signs of a stroke happening are the same regardless of gender - and the best way to determine if you're having one is the FAST Method.
When it comes to heart disease in general, though, there are several gender-specific things you need to understand. In general, they are:
The things you can't control are gender, age, family history and your ethnicity.
So the bottom line advice - do what you can contol. Don't worry about the rest. If you look after heart health, you're looking after stroke risk too.
Heart disease and stroke are basically the same problem, but affecting different areas of the body - the exact same mechanism is at work. Heart disease affects the heart, while stroke affects the brain.
So if you take care to live a heart-healthy life, you cover off the risk of stroke as well (that's why it's normally referred to as "heart disease and stroke"). The signs of a stroke happening are the same regardless of gender - and the best way to determine if you're having one is the FAST Method.
When it comes to heart disease in general, though, there are several gender-specific things you need to understand. In general, they are:
- The role of estrogen: The hormone estrogen tends to protect women from heart disease until they reach menopause - around 50 years old. Things that effect estrogen levels, though, can change things up.
- Birth Control Pills, especially if you smoke, can cause high blood pressure and blood clots in a small group of women - over age 35 seems to be a magic number for these populations.
- Pregnancy. Conditions around pregnancy can increase certain heart disease risks - pre-eclampsia, gestattional diabetes, and stroke ue to some underlying problem associated with child-birth.
- Menopause. Menopause ends the "protection" that women normally enjoy free from heart disease. This has to do with changing estrogen levels, and he subsequent changes in cholesterol levels, triglycerides, blood pressure, and body fat.
The things you can't control are gender, age, family history and your ethnicity.
So the bottom line advice - do what you can contol. Don't worry about the rest. If you look after heart health, you're looking after stroke risk too.
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