Risk Factors
There are a number of risk factors that can increase your chances of having a stroke. They include:
- High blood pressure
- Atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm
- High cholesterol, particularly low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol
- Carotid artery disease
- Aneurysm
- Coronary artery disease
- Prior stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA)
- Arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
- Smoking
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- Elevated levels of homocysteine, an amino acid, in your blood
- Patent foramen ovale (PFO), an abnormal opening of the atrial septum, the thin membrane that separates the left and right sides of the heart's upper chambers or atria
- Family history of stroke or TIA
- Age 55 or older
