This Health Risk Profile estimates your risk of developing stroke compared to the average man or woman. Even more important, it tells you exactly which factors contribute to your risk and what you can do to reduce your risk of developing stroke. By taking the Stroke Risk Profile, you'll be able to take action to reduce your chances of developing stroke and its complications.

What is stroke? A stroke is sometimes called a "brain attack" to emphasize it's similarity to a heart attack. The most common kind of stroke occurs when one of the blood vessels that feed the brain becomes blocked, typically by a blood clot or thrombus. This type of stroke is thus called a thrombotic stroke. The sudden reduction in blood supply causes injury to brain tissue. When the damage is permanent, the condition is called a stroke; a temporary injury that resolves within 24 hours is known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA).

A much less common kind of stroke, called a hemorrhagic stroke, occurs when one of the blood vessels in the brain breaks open. The damage is caused both by lack of blood where it is needed and too much blood where it does not belong.

Stroke is one of the most common causes of death in both men and women, accounting for about 8% of all deaths. (Women: you are twice as likely to die of a stroke than of breast cancer). It's also a major cause of disability, often leading to many years of partial paralysis and/or the inability to speak or write. So it certainly makes sense to reduce your risk of having a stroke!

What causes stroke? Strokes are more likely to occur in people who have damage to their major blood vessels. The main risk factors for such damage, and thus for stroke, include hypertension, diabetes, cigarette smoking, lack of exercise, and several other dietary and laboratory factors. Overall, up to 90% of the causes of stroke are under your control.

A risk factor is anything that affects your chances of getting a particular disease. You can control some of them, but not all of them. Those you can't control include genetics or family history, and environmental exposures or behaviors that occurred in the past. Those you can control include your current and future behavior, including diet and exercise, and your current and future environmental exposures, such as to tobacco smoke. Remember that risk factors are not absolute: having one or more risk factors does not mean you will definitely get stroke, and avoiding risk factors does not guarantee you will be healthy. But they substantially affect your odds.

What about screening? Screening tests, or early detection, are designed to find disease in the blood vessels supplying the brain before the brain has suffered any significant damage. A screening test thus looks for signs of blood vessel disease in people who have no symptoms, be sure to talk with your doctor for more information about whether screening, and what types, might be appropriate for you.

The best defense against stroke is to avoid having one in the first place. That's why risk factors are so important. By identifying which ones are raising your risk, and taking action to change those that you can, you'll reduce your chances of having a stroke.