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Stroke kills twice as many women as breast cancer every year.
However, women in a recent survey believed breast cancer is five times more prevalent than stroke and 40 percent of women said they were only somewhat or not at all concerned about experiencing a stroke in their life.
Did you know?
- 425,000 women suffer from stroke each year, 55,000 more than men.
- Only 27 percent of women could name more than two of the six primary stroke symptoms.
- Seven out of 10 women said they are not aware they are more likely than men to have a stroke, and were not at all or only somewhat knowledgeable about risk factors.
- African-American women suffer a significantly higher number of strokes than Caucasian women, yet African American women were less likely to correctly identify what causes a stroke compared to Caucasian women.
- Stroke is a leading cause of death for Hispanic women but Hispanic women were significantly less aware of stroke symptoms than Caucasian women.
The survey was commissioned by HealthyWomen, the nation's leading independent health information source for women, in partnership with National Stroke Association and the American College of Emergency Physicians. Conducted by Harris Interactive in 2010, support for the survey was provided by Genentech Inc., a wholly-owned member of the Roche Group.
For more information on Women and Stroke, visit http://www.healthywomen.org/healthcenter/stroke.
Women need to be educated and empowered to take charge of their health so they not only know how to reduce their risks, but can recognize the signs of stroke.
One way you can improve your odds for not having a stroke is to learn about stroke risks for women and how lifestyle changes and medicines that can lower your stroke risk.
Learn about common stroke symptoms especially the unique symptoms in woman and act FAST to save lives.