Women are uniquely impacted by stroke in several ways. Twice as many women die from strokes than from breast cancer every year, yet most of us still view stroke as a men’s disease. In fact, women represent more than half of all stroke survivors, and nearly 40,000 more women than men die from stroke each year.

Women, and the men who love them, need to better understand stroke risks, prevention and treatment. For this reason, the National Stroke Association launched Women in Your Life, an educational campaign designed to inform men and women about stroke and the importance of recognizing stroke symptoms.

“Not only are women more likely to die from a stroke, but they also are more likely to be caregivers,” said Diane Mulligan-Fairfield, NSA’s vice president of national communications. “It’s important to recognize that 80 percent of strokes are preventable. And while men often ignore health messages directed at them, they do care about their wives, mothers, and the women in their lives.”

Women tend to have strokes later in life than men, and for this reason, their strokes often are more devastating.

“Women are more likely to die from a stroke. They’re more likely to become disabled and they’re more likely to become demented (have trouble thinking),” said Dawn Kleindorfer, MD, a neurologist at University of Cincinnati. “All of this is related to the later onset of stroke.”

Since women typically are older when they have their first stroke, they are more likely to have other health problems and less likely to have a living spouse who can care for them. Lacking the proper support at home, female stroke survivors are more often transferred from the hospital to a nursing home rather than back to their homes.

Stroke’s impact on women is even more compelling for African-Americans. Stroke risk is highest among women over 75 and among African-American women, who are twice as likely to have a stroke as white women.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) also increases a woman’s stroke risk. Kleindorfer said women with several stroke risks, especially women who already have had a stroke or a TIA, probably should not be on hormone replacement therapy. But, every woman should ask her doctor about her specific medical situation before making any decision about HRT.

Even younger women need to pay attention to their risks for stroke. A woman’s risk for stroke increases when she’s pregnant and if she takes birth control pills, but Kleindorfer said the risk associated with oral contraception is minimal as long as the woman doesn’t also smoke.

The bottom line for women: Know your risk factors for stroke and be able to recognized stroke symptoms in yourself or someone you know.

National Stroke Association’s Women in Your Life emphasizes the F.A.S.T. message for recognizing and acting on the early onset of stroke symptoms:

Face: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?

Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

Speech: Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. Are the words slurred? Can the patient repeat the sentence correctly?

Time: Get the affected person to the hospital right away to receive the most effective treatment.

Reprinted with permission from the National Stroke Association