Contents:
- Medical Video: Why Sleep Apnea Raises Risk of Stroke, Heart Attack
- Why do strokes in women occur more often?
- How can women prevent strokes?
- What are the symptoms of a stroke to watch out for?
Medical Video: Why Sleep Apnea Raises Risk of Stroke, Heart Attack
According to the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia, stroke is one of the highest causes of death in Indonesia, which reached 15.4%. Stroke ranks third as a deadly disease in women. Even from 100 cases of stroke, 60 of them occur in women. Why do strokes in women more vulnerable than men?
Why do strokes in women occur more often?
A person's risk of having a stroke can increase with age. Well, the average age of women is longer than men, because this risk for stroke can be higher in women. Women are usually also more susceptible to autoimmune diseases.
A number of inflammatory disorders can also cause damage to blood vessels or blood clots that increase the risk of stroke. Some types of migraines can also increase stroke in women. And women are also generally more susceptible to migraines.
A recent study even shows the surprising fact that obese women are far more prone to stroke than obese men. Research conducted in the United Kingdom and released in the journal Neurology was conducted involving data from 1.3 million women in the UK with an average age of 57 years.
Of all these participants, more than 344 thousand of them were women with a normal body mass index, more than 228 thousand of whom were obese women with a body mass index of 30, and 20 thousand more women who had a risk of stroke.
How can women prevent strokes?
These women have followed the development of their health conditions for more than 12 years. The results found that those who are overweight or obese will be at risk for hemorrhagic stroke, a condition in which the blood vessels in the brain break down and are very dangerous for someone because they can stop the blood supply and oxygen to the brain.
From this study, it was found that there were more than 2,200 women at risk for ischemic stroke and more than 1,500 women at risk of developing hemorrhagic strokes from data of 344 thousand women of normal weight. Meanwhile, of obese women, there are nearly 2,400 women at risk for ischemic stroke and 910 people at risk for hemorrhagic stroke.
This means that for every woman whose body mass index increases by five points, the risk of ischemic stroke can increase by 21 percent. It is better for women to keep their ideal weight so they are not affected by this deadly stroke.
What are the symptoms of a stroke to watch out for?
Symptoms of stroke in women you should be aware of are difficulty speaking, numbness in the area of the feet, arms, and face, sudden headaches, difficulty walking, fainting, vomiting, and dazed. If you experience these signs, contact your doctor immediately to get the right treatment.
