What Increases Your Risk
The risk factors (things that increase risk) for transient ischemic attack (TIA) and stroke include those you can treat or change and those you can't change.
Risk factors you can treat or change include:
- High blood pressure (hypertension).
- Atrial fibrillation.
- Diabetes.
- Smoking.
- High cholesterol.
- .
- Being overweight.
- Physical
inactivity.
Risk factors you cannot change
include:
- Age. The risk of TIA and stroke increases with age.
- Race. African Americans, Native Americans, and Alaskan Natives
have a higher risk than those of other races.
- Gender. TIA and stroke are more common in
men than women until age 75, when more women than men have strokes. Because
women live longer than men, more women have strokes each year.
- Family history. The risk for TIA and stroke is greater if
a parent, brother, or sister has had a stroke or
a transient ischemic attack (TIA).
- History
of stroke or TIA.