What Raises Your Risk of Stroke

Anyone can have a stroke, at any age, but some things make it more likely. Understanding your own risk is the best way to protect yourself. You can't change your age or family history, but you can take steps to lower your chances.

Medical conditions

Work with your health care team to control these:

• A previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a "mini-stroke," raises the chance of another stroke.
• High blood pressure is a leading cause of stroke. It often has no symptoms, so get it checked often; lowering it through lifestyle changes or medicine lowers stroke risk.
• High cholesterol. The liver makes all the cholesterol the body needs, but we often take in more from food. The excess can build up in arteries, including those of the brain, narrowing them and leading to stroke. A blood test can measure cholesterol and triglycerides (a related fat).
• Heart disease. Coronary artery disease raises stroke risk because plaque in the arteries blocks oxygen-rich blood from reaching the brain. Heart valve defects, irregular heartbeat (including atrial fibrillation) and enlarged heart chambers can cause clots that break loose and cause a stroke.
• Diabetes lets sugars build up in the blood and keeps oxygen and nutrients from reaching parts of the body, including the brain. High blood pressure, common in people with diabetes, is the main reason their stroke risk is higher.
• Obesity is linked to higher "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides, lower "good" cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Sickle cell disease, a blood disorder that affects mainly Black children, is linked to ischemic stroke: sickle-shaped red blood cells can get stuck in a blood vessel and block blood flow to the brain.

Behaviors

Healthy habits can lower your risk:

• Diet. Diets high in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol are linked to stroke and heart disease, and too much salt raises blood pressure.
• Physical activity. Too little can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes; regular activity lowers stroke risk.
• Alcohol. Too much raises blood pressure and triglycerides, which can harden arteries. Women should have no more than one drink a day and men no more than two.
• Tobacco. Smoking damages the heart and blood vessels; nicotine raises blood pressure; carbon monoxide in smoke reduces the oxygen the blood can carry; and secondhand smoke also raises stroke risk.

Traits you can't change

• Family history and genetics. Families share genes, behaviors, lifestyles and environments, so stroke risk can run higher in some families. Several genetic disorders, including sickle cell disease, can cause stroke, and risk climbs further when heredity combines with smoking or an unhealthy diet. CDC's Office of Public Health Genomics worked with the U.S. Surgeon General and other agencies on My Family Health Portrait, an online tool for recording family health history.
• Age. Stroke risk about doubles every 10 years after age 55. Still, many people under 65 have strokes — about one in seven strokes occurs in people aged 15 to 49, which experts attribute to more young people having obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Sex. Stroke is more common in women, and women of all ages are more likely than men to die from it. Pregnancy and birth control pills carry particular stroke risks.
• Race and ethnicity. Black and Pacific Islander people may be more likely to die from stroke than White, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Asian people. Black people's risk of a first stroke is nearly twice that of White people, and they are more likely to die from stroke.

Sources

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: "Risk Factors for Stroke."