New Guidelines Promote Need for Gender-based Stroke Risk Score
Each year in the United States, nearly 55,000 more women suffer from stroke than men. Because of this startling statistic, the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association realized that new guidelines for gender-based stroke risk score must be made. Since women have several more risk factors for stroke than men such as hormone-based birth control use, pregnancy, and migraine with aura, this gender group has an increased risk of high blood pressure that can lead to stroke. These guidelines recommend that to prevent stroke in women, blood pressure screens should be done before a women receives hormone-based birth control and calcium supplements or whether or not aspirin should be suggested to those women with a history of high blood pressure, among other things.