7 things to know about how stroke is different for women

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Stroke can be devastating for anyone. 但是中风的风险和症状在女性和男性中并不总是相同的.

美国心脏协会沙巴足球体育平台请专家解释了一些最重要的区别，以及女性可以做些什么来保护自己.

Women have more risk from high blood pressure

Women and men share many classic risk factors for stroke, 博士说. 特蕾西·马德森, 他是普罗维登斯布朗大学急诊医学和流行病学副教授, 罗德岛州. Such factors include high blood pressure, diabetes and a type of irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation.

Of all factors, high blood pressure influences stroke risk the most. And "for a given level of high blood pressure, the risk of stroke may be actually higher for women than men,马德森说.

美国心脏协会和美国心脏病学会的指南将高血压定义为收缩压(最高值)130或更高，舒张压(最低值)80或更高. A reading of less than 120/80 is considered normal.

研究表明，收缩压在120到129之间的女性患中风的风险与收缩压在140到149之间的男性相同, 博士说. 谢丽尔·布什内尔, 他是温斯顿-塞勒姆维克森林大学医学院的神经学教授和研究副主席, 北卡罗莱纳.

"I think that brings up a lot of questions, 很明显, 关于男性和女性是否应该“区别对待高血压”, 她说.

Pregnancy complications can pose a lifelong risk

Some risk factors affect only women. "Probably one of the most important is pregnancy," 布什内尔说.

Pregnancy is often likened to a stress test for the heart. 与怀孕前相比，血容量和心脏输出量增加了约45%.

Complications during pregnancy can raise the risk of stroke. 子痫前期, 高血压引起高血压并导致器官功能不正常的一种疾病, 会导致立即中风吗. It also raises a woman's lifelong stroke risk.

As many as 1 in 5 pregnant women have problems such as premature labor, 妊娠期糖尿病和其他被标记为不良妊娠结局的疾病. All those conditions can lead to an increased risk of stroke later in life. 包括缺血性中风, where a clot blocks blood flow to the brain, 或者出血性中风, where a vessel in the brain ruptures and bleeds.

Early menopause is another risk unique to women, 布什内尔说. A woman who stops having periods before age of 45, 尤其是在40岁之前, 与通常在50到54岁绝经的女性相比，患中风的风险更高吗.

A 2020年的研究 发表在《沙巴体育平台点击进入》杂志上的一项研究表明，25岁至44岁的年轻女性患中风的风险高于同龄男性. "It's certainly not lower," said Madsen, a co-author of the study. 给她, the bottom line is "strokes do happen in that age group, and people should be aware of their own risk factors and the warning signs."

中风在女性身上看起来会不一样

Traditional stroke symptoms are the same for women and men and can be remembered through the acronym FAST: "F" for face drooping; "A" for arm weakness; "S" for speech difficulty; and "T" for time to call 911.

But women are more likely to have additional symptoms, 包括恶心, loss of consciousness or appearing confused.

Women also are more likely to have migraines, which can double their risk of clot-caused strokes, 根据… 2023年研究综述 in the Journal of Stroke co-authored by Bushnell. 她说，先兆偏头痛尤其与中风风险增加有关，可能包括闪光甚至失明.

Such symptoms of migraine with aura, 伴随着麻木或虚弱, 可以与笔画重叠, 马德森说,, 哪些“会使诊断更具挑战性，并可能导致诊断延误?."

民族和种族比较

Among most racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., the death rate for stroke is similar between men and women, according to 啊哈统计. Black women, however, have a notably lower death rate than Black men. 但即便如此，两者的死亡率也明显高于其他种族和族裔.

Disparities also exist between women. 例如，黑人女性患中风的可能性是非西班牙裔白人女性的两倍 少数民族健康办公室 在美国.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

布什内尔说，与西班牙裔和非西班牙裔白人妇女相比，黑人妇女与高血压有关的妊娠并发症的发生率也更高.

这样的问题, 马德森说,, 反映获得保健服务方面的问题和影响健康的其他社会因素.

中风后会发生什么

根据 最新数据 from the 国家中心 for Health Statistics, stroke ranked fourth among the leading causes of death for women in 2021. 在男性中，排在第五位.

因为女性的寿命比男性长，她们在一生中更容易中风. “女性第一次中风的年龄往往比男性大6岁左右,马德森说. "That might be part of why stroke tends to be more debilitating in women."

研究发现 中风后, 女性的生活质量比男性低，而且不太可能完全恢复能力.

女性如何保护自己

Women need to know their blood pressure and, 如果它很高, make sure they're working with a doctor to manage it, 马德森说,.

她和布什内尔都表示，预防中风的最好方法是遵循美国心脏协会(AHA)列出的“生活必需品8项”，该清单鼓励人们不要吸烟, 保持健康的体重, 保持身体活动, 健康饮食, getting enough sleep and maintaining blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol levels within the normal range.

孕妇应该特别注意高血压的风险, 布什内尔说, and work with their OB-GYN to monitor and, 如果有必要的话, 把它.

"Some women may be reluctant to take medications because of fear for the baby, 我完全理解,她说. “但是有安全的药物.”,, 布什内尔强调, 与怀孕有关的高血压风险并没有随着怀孕的结束而消失.

'There's a lot that we don't know'

Women have been underrepresented in studies about stroke, 布什内尔说, but researchers are working to remedy that.

“有很多积极的工作正在试图理解这些性别差异的原因,马德森说, such as the role of hormones in stroke risk. “我们不知道的还有很多. But the community of stroke researchers are working very hard."