According to National Stroke Association, the third leading cause of death among women is stroke. Surprisingly, only a few women can identify female-centric stroke risk factors and other rare and unique risks that are only encountered by women.

According to a national survey conducted by the Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center, out of 1,100 surveyed women, only a mere 11 percent could identify the gender specific risks that could lead to stroke. The risks include factors such as migraine headaches, pregnancy, birth control pill consumption and autoimmune diseases, including lupus. In addition to the general knowledge of the risks, only 10 percent of the women were aware of the fact that hiccups along with chest pain is an early sign of stroke. The knowledge about the associated numbness in the body and face drooping was also found in an exceptionally low proportion of women.

Apart from female-specific factors, a few stroke risk factors are common among men and women, such as smoking, no exercising, blood pressure above 140/90 and level of haemoglobin A1C more than 7. However, stroke symptoms for women tend to include dizziness, hiccups, numbness and headache along with the atypical chest pain.

"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 Dr. Diana Greene-Chandos from the Ohio State's Wexner Medical Center.

Health experts have stressed on the importance of identifying the stroke symptoms at the earliest, since a lot of women either tend to ignore them at first, or are completely unaware of them. In addition, according to the physicians, seeking medical advice upon recognition of the symptoms is crucial.

"Women do not think they are going to have a stroke. They think of it as a man's disease. 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. Women shouldn't ignore their symptoms or hope they will go away because they may lose their opportunity to receive acute treatment,” said Greene-Chandos.

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