Stroke and TIA: Who Is Affected

Topic Overview

About 795,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year. About 610,000 are first strokes, and about 185,000 are recurrent strokes:footnote 1

  • Stroke is a leading cause of death, after heart disease and cancer.
  • Stroke is a leading cause of serious, long-term disability.
  • More women than men have a stroke every year. Because women live longer than men, their lifetime risk of stroke is higher than risk of stroke for men.
  • African Americans are more likely than people of other races to have a stroke.

The exact number of people who have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) is not known for certain, because people do not always recognize a TIA. Many people who have had a TIA don't ever see a doctor for it.

Men, African Americans, and Mexican Americans have TIAs more often than women and people of other races.footnote 1

References

Citations

  1. Benjamin EJ, et al. (2017). Heart disease and stroke statistics-2017 update: A report from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 135(10): e146-e603. DOI: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000485. Accessed January 26, 2017.

Credits

ByHealthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Martin J. Gabica, MD - Family Medicine
Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer Richard D. Zorowitz, MD - Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

Current as ofDecember 6, 2017