Surprising Early Warning Signs Of Stroke In Women

• dizziness not associated with vertigo,
• headaches,
• numbness over the entire body that is more severe on one side.

“Women may have more headaches with their strokes. They actually can have hiccups with a little bit of chest pain with their stroke symptoms, sometimes sending them down the pathway of looking for either heart disease or indigestion,” said Greene-Chandos.

“Pregnancy also increases their risk of stroke, particularly in the final months and the immediate period after delivering the child,” she said.

Signs of stroke in both men and women can include sudden confusion; trouble speaking or understanding; sudden trouble seeing; sudden difficulty walking; or loss of balance and coordination.

Identifying symptoms of a stroke early on and seeking immediate medical attention is critical because clot-busting drugs are only an option within three hours of the onset of a stroke, the researchers cautioned.

“Women do not think they are going to have a stroke. They think of it as a man’s disease,” said Greene-Chandos. “You have to know when you are having a stroke, you have to recognize that it’s a stroke and you have to get to the emergency room and receive the medication.”

Nearly half of those surveyed also said they didn’t know that following a stroke, many women experience nerve damage, problems swallowing and depression, which can prevent them from getting needed rehabilitation.

Each year more than 137,000 Americans die from stroke, about 60 percent of them women, according to the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association.