3. Race. Strokes are more common – and more deadly – for African Americans than other ethnic group in the U.S. This statistic includes young and middle-aged adults. Blacks have a 60 percent greater likelihood of having a stroke with a greater degree of disability and are two times likely to die from it than other racial groups.
4. Family history. There is some speculation that strokes can run in families, aka “familial strokes.” This may be due to a gene passed down from one generation to the next that has a predisposition for hypertension, diabetes or cholesterol imbalances. If you have high blood pressure, you have a two to four times higher chance of strokes before you are 80 years old.
Diabetes causes devastating changes in blood vessels throughout the body. Were you to have a stroke while fighting diabetes, this would be the equivalent of losing 15 years of your life.
Another family characteristic that could be handed down to the next generation is cholesterol imbalances. A grandparent, mother or father could pass on the gene that programs one’s body to produce too much low-density lipoproteins, or LDLs, naturally. So if there is someone in your family that is struggling with their cholesterol, you may be next in line. LDLs load cells down with cholesterol and HDLs transport the cholesterol out of the cells, so you can see why it is important to keep a delicate balance here.
5. History of strokes or TIAs. Transient ischemic attacks, or TIAs, share similar symptoms with strokes – sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm or leg, especially if it occurs only on one side of the body; sudden difficulty walking or keeping one’s balance; sudden difficulty speaking or understanding speech; and sudden difficulty seeing out of one or both eyes. The only difference is that TIAs are temporary, lasting for a few minutes to 24 hours.