(COLUMBUS, Ohio) May 2015 – A new national survey shows that most women don’t know the risks or symptoms females face when it comes to having a stroke. The survey, released by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, found that only 11 percent of women could identify female-specific risk factors for stroke from a list and nine out of 10 weren’t aware that hiccups combined with chest pain are among the early warning signs of a stroke in women.
“I think we have a ways to go when it comes to educating women about stroke and their unique risk factors,” said Dr. Diana Greene-Chandos, a neurologist and director of neuroscience critical care at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. “Things like pregnancy, hormone replacement therapy and even something as trivial as a case of the hiccups can all play an important role when it comes to strokes in women, and we need to be more aware of it,” she said.