But 55-percent of all strokes and 60-percent of stroke deaths occur in women.

About 100,000 women die annually of stroke, 40,000 more than the number of men who die from it. The fact that risk goes up with age and women live longer account for a large portion of that difference.

Strokes can affect younger women as well, including after childbirth when the blood is more likely to clot — probably an evolutionary adaptation so new mothers don’t bleed to death, says Dr. David Sherman, chief of neurology at the University of Texas Health Science Center.

And for women who have migraine headaches — about 18 percent of women do — and those who smoke and take oral contraceptives, there is more risk of stroke.

Twice as many women die from stroke every year than from breast cancer

That is why I’ve posted the following Harvard Medical report. LEARN the early warning signs of stroke. Inconvenient Women know their bodies and are proactive about their health. For more information go to ‘Stoke Facts In America‘

		September 23, 2008

3 warning signs of stroke You know the signs of a stroke. Or do you? You’d probably recognize the classic symptoms, such as sudden weakness on one side of the body or blurred vision, but often the signs are much less obvious. A crushing headache may come on without warning. Your face may feel numb. You may have inexplicable trouble speaking or following what people say. How to tell when someone’s having a stroke Crooked smile. Have the person smile or show his or her teeth. If one side doesn’t move as well as the other or seems to droop, that could be sign of a stroke. Arm drift. Have the person close his or her eyes and hold his or her arms straight out in front for about 10 seconds. If one arm does not move, or one arm winds up drifting down more than the other, they may be having a stroke. Slurred speech. Have the person say, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” or some other simple, familiar saying. If the person slurs the words, gets some words wrong, or is unable to speak, that could be sign of a stroke. Knowing all the warning signs of a stroke may one day save your life and well-being. That’s because the faster you recognize the symptoms, the sooner you can get medical help. And prompt treatment is the key to shielding your brain from a stroke’s damage and sparing you serious disabilities such as paralysis, speech impairment, and dementia. Every 45 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States and other industrial countries, trailing only heart disease and cancer. In the United States, about 700,000 people have a stroke each year. If you have a stroke, the risk of dying from it increases with age: 88% of deaths from stroke are in people 65 and older. About two-thirds of people who have a stroke have some resulting disability and require rehabilitation. The odds of having a stroke more than double for each decade after age 55. Two-thirds of strokes involve people over 65. Men and women are about equally likely to have a stroke, but women have a greater risk of dying from one. Race is another risk factor. African-Americans, for example, are almost twice as likely to suffer a stroke as are whites. Although you can’t change your age or race, you can take steps to reduce other risk factors for stroke, especially ischemic stroke. The most common risk factors for both ischemic stroke and TIAs (transient ischemic attacks, or “mini strokes”) are high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, unhealthy cholesterol levels, and obesity. All of these factors affect the health of your blood vessels — increasing the risk not only of stroke, but also of heart disease. That’s why medications and other steps you take to reduce the risk of an ischemic stroke will also benefit your heart. Some types of hemorrhagic strokes are more likely to occur in people with chronic high blood pressure. But other types of hemorrhagic strokes seemingly strike out of the blue. Although abnormal blood vessel conditions such as an aneurysm (a bubble in the blood vessel wall that could rupture) or an arteriovenous malformation (an abnormal tangle of blood vessels) increase the risk, these conditions may only be discovered inadvertently while you are undergoing testing for something else or may not be discovered until a stroke occurs. Fortunately, medicine has made considerable strides in understanding how to treat and prevent strokes. Medical imaging devices now enable medical teams to begin to diagnose a stroke accurately within minutes. Large studies have clarified which medications and other treatments are best for which patients. For those who need rehabilitation, experimental techniques are showing promise in helping patients make better progress than was possible even just a few years ago.

FEATURED CONTENT: What is a stroke? How the brain works Subtypes and causes of stroke Diagnosing a stroke Treating ischemic stroke Treating hemorrhagic stroke Stroke rehabilitation Preventing stroke Reprinted from Stroke: Preventing and treating “brain attack” — A Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School, Copyright © 2008 by Harvard University. All rights reserved.

** Get your copy of Stroke: Preventing and treating “brain attack” Stroke: Preventing and treating “brain attack” provides up-to-the-minute information about stroke symptoms, diagnosis, stroke treatment, and rehabilitation. This report discusses stroke prevention and common signs of stroke. It also contains helpful illustrations, an extensive glossary, and an informative resource guide. Click here to read more or buy online. To order online, click one of the following links: Purchase printed version ($18.00) Purchase electronic download (PDF) ($18.00) Purchase print + electronic download (PDF) ($26.00) Or to order by mail, print and mail the order form below:

Harvard Medical School offers special reports on over 50 health topics. Visit our Web site at http://www.health.harvard.edu to find reports of interest to you and your family. Copyright 2008 by Harvard University.

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

Broccoli may undo diabetes damage

Broccoli may help ward off prostate cancer

Eating broccoli could reverse the damage caused by diabetes to heart blood vessels, research suggests.

A University of Warwick team believe the key is a compound found in the vegetable, called sulforaphane.

It encourages production of enzymes which protect the blood vessels, and a reduction in high levels of molecules which cause significant cell damage.

Brassica vegetables such as broccoli have previously been linked to a lower risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Our study suggests that compounds such as sulforaphane from broccoli may help counter processes linked to the development of vascular disease in diabetes Professor Paul Thornalley University of Warwick

People with diabetes are up to five times more likely to develop cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes; both are linked to damaged blood vessels.

The Warwick team, whose work is reported in the journal Diabetes, tested the effects of sulforaphane on blood vessel cells damaged by high glucose levels (hyperglycaemia), which are associated with diabetes.

They recorded a 73% reduction of molecules in the body called Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS).

Hyperglycaemia can cause levels of ROS to increase three-fold and such high levels can damage human cells.

The researchers also found that sulforaphane activated a protein in the body called nrf2, which protects cells and tissues from damage by activating protective antioxidant and detoxifying enzymes.

Countering vascular disease

Lead researcher Professor Paul Thornalley said: “Our study suggests that compounds such as sulforaphane from broccoli may help counter processes linked to the development of vascular disease in diabetes.

“In future, it will be important to test if eating a diet rich in brassica vegetables has health benefits for diabetic patients. We expect that it will.”

Dr Iain Frame, director of research at the charity Diabetes UK, stressed that research carried out on cells in the lab was a long way from the real life situation.

However, he said: “It is encouraging to see that Professor Thornalley and his team have identified a potentially important substance that may protect and repair blood vessels from the damaging effects of diabetes.

“It also may help add some scientific weight to the argument that eating broccoli is good for you.”

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.

Women on hormone replacement therapy have a 20 per cent higher risk of dying from ovarian cancer, says a new report.

The research, from the authoritative Million Women study, suggests that as many as 1,000 women may have died from ovarian cancer between 1991 and 2005, partly because they were using HRT.

But health experts say that current advice will not change and that women using HRT should do so for the shortest possible time.

For millions of women it was a liberating treatment. HRT banished hot flushes, fatigue, mood swings, night sweats and many other symptoms of the menopause.

In recent years, though, health scares about hormone replacement therapy put many women off taking it.

Now new research suggests that in some cases using HRT can be fatal.

There has been a series of health scares associated with HRT -

• In 2002 an American study found it increased the risk of heart attacks, strokes and breast cancer.
• In 2003 British research concluded that using HRT over 10 years doubled the risk of breast cancer.
• In April 2007 a new American study revealed that there was NO increased risk of a heart attack in women in their 50s.

The study found that women on it have a 20 per cent higher risk of developing ovarian cancer, as well as an increased risk of dying.

And there’s a 63 per cent higher combined risk of breast, ovarian and endometrial cancers.

The study concludes that 1,000 extra British women died between 1991 and 2005.

“What concerns me is they’re extending the period of the research from five years to 14 years, and claiming that a thousand woman would die over that time. This is really replacing science with sensationalism.”

—John Stevenson, Women’s Health Concern

The alarming findings are already causing controversy among medical experts, some questioning the science behind them.

The confusion over whether HRT is safe has seen the number of women using it fall dramatically, from two million in 2001 to one million four years later.

The British Menopause Society and the Women’s Health Initiative are just two organisations who have in the past condemned contradictory statistics put out by American researchers.

If the latest research is correct, it means that in Britain one woman in every 2,500 taking HRT will develop ovarian cancer.

But with so many conflicting messages, many women will remain unsure as to whether they should continue or even begin treatment.

Posted With Permission —

Source: By: Bridgid Nzekwu, TV Channel 4, PO Box 1058, Belfast Ireland, BT1 9DU

©2012 An Inconvenient Woman. All Rights Reserved.