This session will be available for virtual attendees within 24 hours after concluding in New Orleans.

Submission for Paola De Rango Memorial Session on Stroke in Women.

Stroke risk for women changes across the lifespan as their risk factors, hormonal, and reproductive status evolves, but strategies for primary prevention and risk factor control are still broadly applied to both women and men. In 2014, the Guideline for the Primary Prevention of Stroke in Women was published, which detailed critical sex differences in stroke risk factors. Since then, additional evidence for sex differences in stroke epidemiology, risk factors, and stroke prevention has been reported. Presenters will review updates to literature on 3 stroke risk factors as they pertain to stroke risk in women in particular: hypertension, diabetes/metabolic syndrome, and atrial fibrillation. Hypertension, diabetes, and atrial fibrillation are among the most common modifiable stroke risk factors, and sex-specific data demonstrate stronger risks associated with these factors in women compared with men, sex differences in physiologic mechanisms leading to stroke, and the potential for sex differences in the threshold at which stroke risk increases for diabetes and hypertension in particular. The fourth section will review sex differences in brain health, specifically biologic mechanisms for cognitive impairment and brain health following stroke. Maintaining brain health has recently been recognized as a priority by the AHA, and prevention of acute stroke is a critical aspect of brain health as women age.

Speakers need to discuss not only the risk factors but also how they are managed differently for men vs women. Speakers should bring in any new information in their areas. Last talk, Stroke and Cognition/Brain Health, should have some basic science in it. Focus on sex-specific risk factors; when risk factors develop in women vs. men.

Aleksandra Pikula

University of Toronto

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