The American Stroke Association has identified several factors that increase someone’s  risk of having a CVA.  The more risk factors people have, the greater chance they have of suffering a stroke.  Some of these risk factors can’t be controlled and some can be changed or treated to lower the risk of CVA. CVA Risk Factors PAGE 3     In the Know Risk Factors That People Can't Control Risk Factors That People Can Control 1.  Increasing age:  The chance of having a stroke more than doubles for each 10 years of life after the age of 55.  While stroke is common among the elderly, a lot of people under 65 also have strokes. 2.  Male sex:  Men have about a 19% greater chance of stroke than women.   Among people under age 65, the risk for men is even greater when compared to women. 3.  Heredity (family history) and race:  The chance of stroke is greater for people who have a family history of stroke.  African Americans have a much higher risk of death and disability from a stroke than whites.  This is because African Americans have a greater incidence of high blood pressure—a major risk factor. 4.  Prior stroke:  The risk of stroke for someone who has already had a CVA is many times higher than for a person who hasn’t. 1.  High Blood Pressure:  High blood pressure is the most important risk factor for a stroke.   Many people believe that because more and more people are being treated for high blood pressure, fewer people are dying from CVA’s.    3.  Diabetes:  Diabetes is a risk factor for stroke and is strongly related to high blood pressure.  While diabetes is treatable, having it increases a person’s risk of stroke.  In addition, people with diabetes are often overweight and have high cholesterol, increasing their risk even more. 4.  Carotid artery disease:  There are arteries in the neck that supply blood to the brain called carotid arteries.  A carotid artery that becomes blocked by a blood clot or by cholesterol can result in a stroke. 5.  Heart disease: A diseased heart increases the risk of stroke.  In fact people with heart problems have more than twice the risk of stroke as those with hearts that work normally.  Atrial fibrillation (rapid beating of the heart’s upper chambers) raises the risk for stroke.   Heart attack is also the major cause of death among survivors of stroke. 6.   Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs): See Page 2. 2.  Cigarette Smoking:  In recent years, studies have shown cigarette smoking to be an important risk factor for stroke.  Also, the use of birth control pills combined with cigarette smoking greatly increases the risk of stroke.