/ Introduction / Stroke risk in stroke patients

Stroke risk in stroke patients

A previous stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) increases risk of further strokes now or in the future. People who have had a stroke have a 5% risk of having a secondary stroke in the first 90 days after stroke, although this can range up to 18%. The risk is 10% within the first year and 25% within five years1,2.

Secondary stroke can be more disabling than the first, so protecting our brain is essential1. As with prevention of a first stroke, lifestyle changes and appropriate medication can reduce the likelihood of secondary stroke3.

Appropriate management of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, high blood glucose and smoking, while encouraging healthier diets and physical activity, can reduce the risk of death from further heart attacks and strokes. More than one million fatal cardiovascular disease events (including stroke) could be avoided in the EU over the next 10 years if 70% of people living with cardiovascular disease had their risk factors better managed than they are today4.

Understanding which risk factors is the first step in reducing, protecting our brain risk and potentially preventing strokes.

 
 

References

  1. Valery L Feigin, Mayowa O Owolabi, Valery L Feigin, Foad Abd-Allah, Rufus O Akinyemi, Natalia V Bhattacharjee, Michael Brainin, et al. Pragmatic Solutions to Reduce the Global Burden of Stroke: A World Stroke Organization–Lancet Neurology Commission. The Lancet Neurology. 2023. 22(12). https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(23)00277-6
  2. Hans-Christoph Diener, Graeme J. Hankey. Primary and Secondary Prevention of Ischemic Stroke and Cerebral Hemorrhage. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2020. 75(15):1804–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2019.12.072
  3. Amelia K Boehme, Charles Esenwa,  Mitchell S V Elkind. Stroke Risk Factors, Genetics, and Prevention. Circ Res. 2017. Feb 3;120(3):472-495. https://doi.org/10.1161/circresaha.116.308398
  4. Jennifer Gill, Aurelio Miracolo, Konstantina Politopoulou, Sahan Jayawardana, Efstratios Apostolou, Alex Carter, Panos Kanavos. Determining the Benefits of Improving Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease. London School of Economics. 2023. Determining the Benefits of Improving Secondary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease (lse.ac.uk)

STROKE RISKS

Read about risk factors we can change 

LIFESTYLE

ENVIRONMENT

MEDICAL
CONDITIONS

Read about risk factors we cannot change 

AGE

BIOLOGICAL
SEX

ETHNICITY

GENETICS

MEDICAL
CONDITIONS

Translate