Besides cancer and heart diseases, stroke is the third leading cause of death. Approximately 1/4 of all stroke victims die as a direct result of the stroke or it's complications. Stroke is caused by uncontrolled diet that is high in saturated and trans fats resulting in cholesterol building up in the arteries and high blood pressure. In other words, if cholesterol building up in the arteries is blocking the circulation of blood in any part of the body causing oxygen to not be delivered to the brain, some cells in the brain die off and can not reproduce, the you may have a stroke. Other strokes happen when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures causing the cells in your brain to be deprived of oxygen in your blood, thus they die and never come back.

In this article, we will discuss the risk factors that may cause strokes.

1. Age

Human aging is the biological process that is unavoidable but controllable. Starting at age 40, the cells in our body begin this process causing the deterioration of some functions of our body. Most people of this age group already have some form of cholesterol building up in their arteries and high blood pressure resulting in an increased risk of stroke.

2. Heredity

People with a family history of stroke have a greater chance of stroke than those do not have such a family history.

3. Race

Because of frequent high blood pressure in African Americans, they have a significantly higher risk of stroke than their Caucasian counterparts.

4. High blood pressure

High blood pressure causes hardening and thinning of arterial walls and makes our heart work harder to pump blood throughout our body resulting in heart diseases as well as increasing the risk of stroke.

5. Smoking

Smokers may be exposed to toxic cadmium, causing high blood pressure and heart diseases as well as contributing to a higher risk of stroke.

6. Excessive alcohol consumption

Drinking one cup of wine for women and 2 cups of wine for men might help to increase the circulation of blood as well as providing more oxygen for cells. However, excessive drinking not only damages the normal function of liver but also raises high blood pressure, increasing the risk of stroke.

7. Diabetes

Diabetes with unhealthy diet causes high levels of glucose in the bloodstream. Diabetics have a greater risk of stroke, because high levels of glucose damage the arterial wall as well as clotting the arteries and blood vessels.

8. Gender

Males have a 20% greater risk of stroke than females.

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