Females under 35 have a 44% higher risk of Ischemic Stroke than males

A new study published today found that stroke affects more women each year than men.

According to a new assessment of more than a dozen international research on sex differences in stroke occurrence published today in Stroke, women aged 35 and younger were 44 percent more likely than males to experience an ischemic stroke (caused by blocked blood arteries in the brain).

Study examined the differences in stroke incidence between men and women in distinct young adult age groups in this study. They reviewed studies published on PubMed between January 2008 and July 2021.

They comprised population-based research focusing on young adults 45 years and younger. Ischemic strokes, hemorrhagic strokes (a bleed that occurs when a weakened blood artery ruptures), TIA, or transient Ischemic attack, commonly known as a mini-stroke (caused by a significant, momentary clot), and cryptogenic strokes (for which no known cause is found) were all included in the studies. Ischemic strokes made up the majority of the strokes in the study, accounting for around 87 percent of all strokes.

The researchers found 16 trials involving 69,793 young adults with stroke (33,775 women and 36,018 men) from over half a dozen countries, including the United States, Canada, France, and the Netherlands.

The findings of the study revealed that “traditional atherosclerotic risk factors are a major contributor to ischemic strokes in both young men and women and become increasingly important with age.”

“However, these risk factors are less prevalent in younger women and may not account for the observed higher incidence of ischemic strokes in women younger than age 35. Young women who are survivors of ischemic stroke also have worse outcomes, with 2 to 3 times higher risk of poorer functional outcomes compared to their male counterparts.”

“Our finding suggests that strokes in young adults may be happening for different reasons than strokes in older adults. This emphasizes the importance of doing more studies of stroke in younger age groups so that we can better understand what puts young women at a higher risk of stroke,” says study co-author Sharon N. Poisson.

Image Credit: Getty

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