This increased attention to risk factors in early adult years was recommended by new guidelines that were released earlier this year by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.
Those guidelines are now being phased into practice by primary care doctors, experts say. For women, that translates to more screening for risk factors during office visits and more interventions to ensure a healthy lifestyle to reduce stroke risk, said Dr. Louise McCullough, director of the Stroke Center at the University of Connecticut in Farmington.
McCullough is the co-author of a summary of the guidelines that was published June 16 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Stroke is a serious interruption or reduction of blood flow to the brain, and McCullough said women have “unique risk factors.”
Among them are the use of birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy after menopause, which both increase stroke risk. Pregnancy-associated disorders also may have long-lasting effects on a woman’s health and her stroke risk, she added.
Here’s why all that is important: An estimated 6.8 million persons in the United States have had a stroke, 3.8 million of whom are women, according to the summary. Women have poorer recovery and worse quality of life than men after a stroke, the summary says.
And here’s what women can expect if their primary care doctor adheres to the new guidelines.
Your doctor will screen for high blood pressure. It is the most changeable risk factor, and it’s more common in women than in men.
Depending on your age, your doctor may screen for atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm, by measuring pulse rate and doing an electrocardiogram.
Your doctor may ask you about any history of headaches. Migraine headache with aura can increase stroke risk, and McCullough said reducing the frequency of migraine should be the goal as a possible way to reduce stroke risk.