Family History and Other Characteristics That Increase Risk for Stroke
Family members share genes, behaviors, lifestyles, and environments that can influence their health and their risk for disease. Stroke risk can be higher in some families than in others, and your chances of having a stroke can go up or down depending on your age, sex, and race or ethnicity.
The good news is you can take steps to prevent stroke. Work with your health care team to lower your risk for stroke.
Genetics and family history
When members of a family pass traits from one generation to another through genes, that process is called heredity.
Genetics factors likely play some role in high blood pressure, stroke, and other related conditions. Several genetics disorders can cause a stroke, including sickle cell disease. People with a family history of stroke are also likely to share common environments and other potential factors that increase their risk.
The chances for stroke can increase even more when heredity combines with unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as smoking cigarettes and eating an unhealthy diet.
Family health history is a record of the diseases and health conditions that happen in your family. Family health history is a useful tool for understanding health risks and preventing health problems. To help people collect and organize their family history information, the CDC's Office of Public Health Genomics worked with the U.S. Surgeon General and other federal agencies to develop a web-based tool called My Family Health Portrait.
Age
The older you are, the more likely you are to have a stroke. The chance of having a stroke about doubles every 10 years after age 55. Although stroke is common among older adults, many people younger than 65 years also have strokes.
In fact, about one in seven strokes occur in adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 49. Experts thing younger people are having more strokes because more young people are obese and have high blood pressure and diabetes.
Sex
Stroke is more common in women than men, and women of all ages are more likely than men to die from stroke. Pregnancy and use of birth control pills pose special stroke risks for women.
Race or ethnicity
Blacks, Hispanics, American Indians, and Alaska Natives may be more likely to have a stroke than non-Hispanic white or Asians. The risk of having a first stroke is nearly twice as high for blacks as for whites. Blacks are also more likely to die from stroke than whites are.